Activists worry another Columbine will spark end of 2nd Amendment
Tucked away in committee on Capitol Hill is a firearm licensing bill that Second Amendment advocates worry may just be waiting for the right “Columbine moment” to emerge and effectively ban handguns in the U.S.
As WND reported, U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., sponsored H.R. 45, an extensive licensure law that creates a national database of current firearm owners, requires psychiatric testing and fingerprinting to obtain a license and places new restrictions on gun use and storage.
Mike Hammond, legal advisor with Gun Owners of America, told WND that H.R. 45 gives the federal government so much power over gun ownership, that the wrong administration could use it to “bring gun ownership in America to an end.”
“It takes semi-automatic firearms and handguns – the guns people use for personal self-defense,” Hammond said, “and sets up a licensure system, that is, the government would have to give you permission to own a gun. The government can therefore also deny that permission, and it would mean an anti-gun administration could use it to effectively ban most guns from private ownership.
“Even if you are willing to undergo a psychiatric exam, be fingerprinted and do what the bill requires to obtain a license, the law still requires the guns be unloaded and locked up,” Hammond added. “It renders the gun practically unavailable for self-defense.”
And even though H.R. 45 has remained dormant in the House Judiciary Committee since it was introduced, Hammond told WND that his organization is worried it may not stay there.
“Our concern is that Rep. Rush comes from same political machine that Barack Obama comes from,” Hammond said. “So we have a real concern that Rush’s introduction of this reflects the thinking of an Obama administration. And while we don’t think this bill will be the first thing that the president pushes, before the Obama administration uses a Columbine incident to bring the bill alive, while it’s still lying on its back [in committee], we want to put a stake through its heart.”
Hammond summarized, “Ultimately if a license system is in place, any anti-gun administration can come after your guns.” Continue reading . . .
