It is no secret that more than six years into office President Obama continues to push a radical anti-gun agenda and attempt to bypass the law-making authority of Congress. We saw this recently in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) proposal to restrict the manufacture and sale of ammunition commonly used by sportsman and hunters. Many of you shared in my outrage for the proposed ban and together we made our voices heard. This week, the ATF dropped its proposed ban, tweeting “You spoke, we listened.”
This fight to protect the Second Amendment was not easily won. In a bipartisan letter from 239 members of Congress, my colleagues and I wrote the ATF strongly voicing our opposition. Additionally, Americans all across the country left over 80,000 public comments about the proposed ban.
The ATF’s stated goal for the ban was to further limit “armor-piercing ammunition.” However, there is already a law prohibiting armor piercing ammunition in handguns, called the Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act. It protects police officers while upholding our right to access ammunition for sporting rifles. The ATF’s proposed ban was yet another backdoor attempt to change our laws unilaterally instead of working through Congress.
Unfortunately, we know this will not be the Obama Administration’s last attempt to attack our rural way of life and the freedoms ensured by our Constitution. In 2008, this president said that rural Americans get bitter and “cling to guns or religion." What he doesn’t understand, though, is that we are God-fearing, law-abiding gun owners who take the Constitution seriously.
It's no doubt there will be more fights similar to this to defend our Constitutional rights in the future. Like with this situation with the ATF, I will need your help to keep this administration honest. The president has shown time and time again his lack of reverence for the Constitution and his intention to act unilaterally to push his own agenda. We won this battle, but the fight is not over. I will continue to be vigilant in defending our Constitutional rights and keeping this administration in check.
###
