Congressman Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) isn’t given to hyperbole. When he speaks, he means what he says. It’s worth paying attention.
It’s too bad his fellow Members of Congress would rather listen to gun control sycophants instead of serving the people they were elected to represent.
U.S. Rep. Hudson lit into U.S. House of Representative Democrats for rushing gun control bills to the floor for a vote. Two bills are being pushed that were passed by the House in the last Congress, but never got attention in the Senate. H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and H.R. 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021, was introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Rep. Hudson ripped Congress for capitalizing on half-truths to rob Americans of their Second Amendment rights at a Republican press availability this week.
Call It What It Is
“Unfortunately, the Democrats in Congress are not serious about ending gun violence,” Congressman Hudson said. “And it’s obvious by the bills – they’re bringing up four this week – which would do nothing to have stopped a single mass shooting in this country, yet, they threaten the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
Rep. Hudson reminded reporters that he is a father of a five-year-old attending school and the concerns of criminal misuse of firearms in schools resonates deeply. He pointed to concrete action championed by Congress including the Fix NICS Act, named for NSSF’s FixNICS® campaign, that compels federal agencies and provides resources to states to submit all disqualifying records especially adjudicated mental health records to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Firearm retailers rely on NICS records being up to date and accurate when running point-of-sale instant background checks for a firearm sale.
“The Democrats have rushed two bills to the floor, no regular order, no hearing time,” Rep. Hudson continued. “They have allowed no meaningful input from Republicans and – and these bills, again, would have not stopped a single mass shooting, not Newtown, not Charleston, not Parkland, not Las Vegas, not Sutherland Springs, would not have stopped the shooting of our former colleague, Gabrielle Giffords because her shooter passed a background check.”
The North Carolina congressman lambasted gun control Members of Congress for rushing legislation that’s disingenuous.
“H.R. 8 fails to recognize the fact that every commercial gun sale in America requires a background check today,” Rep. Hudson explained. “And H.R. 1446 creates delays for law-abiding citizens, could be indefinite to acquire a weapon and would have not closed the Charleston loophole.”
Rep. Hudson explained that the failure on the murders in Charleston, S.C.’s Emmanuel AME Church was a matter of law enforcement not sharing disqualifying criminal information with the FBI. He said that a fix would be Rep. Tom Rice’s H.R. 1518, a bill which codifies current NICS practices.
Legislation That Works
Rep. Hudson also announced the introduction of The STOP II: Classrooms Over Conference Rooms Act, which would add an extra $100 million a year to fund the STOP School Violence Act. That law was signed in 2018 to make schools safer by providing resources to harden schools and train students, teachers and local law enforcement to help stop school violence before it happens. The funds for Rep. Hudson’s bill are taken from money allocated to the U.S. Department of Education to rent conference rooms in Washington, D.C.
“Republicans have meaningful alternatives and we have six bills that have been introduced last week and this week,” Rep. Hudson explained. “We will be pushing to end gun violence. Our legislation would actually address this problem. The Democrats are concerned about taking away our Second Amendment rights, and the two bills this week will simply erode those rights.”
Larry Keane is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.
