USA – Congressmen Sam Johnson (R-TX) and Ralph Abraham (R-LA) — and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in the Senate — have introduced resolutions to overturn Barack Obama’s Social Security Gun Ban.
As a senior citizen myself … and as one who owns several firearms that I want to pass on as an inheritance to my children one day … this legislation is very important to me.
But first, a little background.
As he was going out the door, Barack Obama made one final obscene gesture to the Second Amendment community.
That gesture consisted of a rule which would troll the Social Security rolls and identify recipients whose checks were processed by a guardian.
Once these people were identified, their names would be inputted into the NICS system, and their guns would be taken away.
Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie — who is chairman of the House Second Amendment Task Force — minced no words in describing Obama’s rule. This week, Rep. Massie told GOA that:
If you want to see how ruinous this policy will be to seniors, look at the over one hundred thousand veterans who have been stripped of their Second Amendment rights under a similar procedure through the Department of Veterans Affairs. This ruling is yet another attempt to hurt gun owners and bypass due process. Our seniors deserve better than that.
In places like New York and California, with their gun confiscation programs, SWAT teams could be sent to the homes of Social Security recipients who were identified under the Obama rule.
Our experience is that most gun owners don’t have $10-20,000 lying around to hire a lawyer and appeal the ruling.
This process was promulgated pursuant to the “NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007” — which is also known as the “Veterans Disarmament Act”.
Gun Owners of America opposed that bill because, as we predicted, it would legitimize gun bans against veterans, and would soon be applied to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid recipients as well.
Tragically, that prediction has now come to pass.
But the passage of the Johnson/Abraham resolution in the House (H.J.Res. 40) — and of the Grassley resolution in the Senate (S.J.Res 14) — will obliterate that anti-gun rule from the law.
And, because it is being passed under a special procedure (called the Congressional Review Act), they will be considered under special parliamentary rules and cannot be filibustered in the Senate.
Thus, they will need only a majority vote in the Senate and the House, and President Donald Trump is sure to sign.
So please urge your Representative, Rep. Christopher Smith (R), to cosponsor H.J.Res. 40. And urge your two Senators to cosponsor Sen. Grassley’s identical effort, S.J.Res. 14.
It will send a strong message if we can get a large number of cosponsors on this resolution.
Sincerely,
Larry Pratt
Executive Director Emeritus
About Gun Owners of America (GOA)
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no compromise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul.
Visit: www.gunowners.org to Join.