U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- “The so-called ‘assault’ weapons ban that passed the House today had the help of two Republican traitors,” The Right Scoop reported Friday. “But five Democrats stepped away from the madness and voted NO on this abomination.”
Actually, three Republican traitors helped assure a victory in the House that would send the bill on to the Senate. One did not vote, ostensibly so he’d have some form of plausible deniability in November.
Per the House Clerk’s official tally, the two overt enemies are Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York. The guy sitting on his hands was Ohio’s Anthony Gonzalez.
As for the nay-saying Democrats, I don’t care about them. You can bet their vote was purely for political reasons, as everything else they support and enable more than negates the few times they vote gun owners’ way out of pure self-interest.
And the Republican quislings should surprise no one who has been paying attention. Their names have come up time and again over the years trying to mandate infringements. What follows I by no means a complete record—it is just random stuff that came to my attention and was posted on my The War on Guns blog.
- Sponsored the “Closing the Bump-Stock Loophole Act.”
- Co-sponsored the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act.”
- Voted for the “Enhanced Background Checks Act.”
- And there’s plenty more:
“In 2018, Fitzpatrick was the only Republican to receive an endorsement from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the gun control organization founded by former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords. Fitzpatrick voted to expand background checks and to restrict assault weapon sales. He voted against a bill that would require states to recognize concealed-carry permits issued by other statesIn March 2021, Fitzpatrick was one of eight Republicans to join the House majority in passing the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021.”
- Voted to raise the minimum age to purchase a semi-auto rifle to 21 (and subsequently dropped his reelection bid over his support for banning them for all private citizens).
- He, too, voted to raise the minimum age (and also dropped out after voting to impeach Donald Trump).
That means two of the turncoats are beyond the reach of gun owners to exact electoral revenge upon, and the last man standing, Fitzpatrick, decisively beat his primary challenger in May, with Bucks Country Republicans knowing full well he was a “moderate … who touts his bipartisan record.”
“Fitzpatrick, the incumbent from the previous 8th district, was elected on November 6, 2018, to the newly redrawn 1st district,” the Wikipedia entry for Pennsylvania’s 1st congressional district documents. “As of 2022, it is one of nine districts that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election while being held or won by a Republican.”
That gun owners have been losing political traction in the Keystone State is self-evident, and the Dr. Oz race with him currently trailing as he distances himself from the Trump endorsement is a good indication of how uninspiring “moderate” Republicans who demoralize their natural core constituents are with the general electorate. And while Fitzpatrick won handily in 2020, his Democrat challenger, Ashley Ehasz, may have what he lacks despite his substantial advantage in campaign financing: the ability to stoke the fire in the bellies of her supporters, especially with her record of being “a U.S. Army Veteran and Apache helicopter pilot. She grew up in Southeastern Pennsylvania, and at the age of 17 with a waiver in hand, she joined the Army, seeing that as her best option to afford her college education. If elected, Ashley would be the first woman serving in Congress to have graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.”
And yes, totally unsurprisingly, she too shows everyone her big “but” on guns:
“As a combat veteran, I fully support the second amendment and the rights of citizens to securely keep arms for self-defense, recreation, and hunting. As a former U.S. Army Commander, I have first-hand knowledge of the power and deadliness of military-grade assault weapons which is why I support Universal Background Checks to ensure that those purchasing firearms do not pose a risk to themselves or others in our community, and that they are stored securely and out of the reach of children and others who are not properly trained on how to safely use them. Gun violence is a public health crisis, and for too long Republicans have stood in the way of overwhelmingly popular safety legislation to protect our communities and schools. As your representative, I will stand up for responsible measures to curb this public health crisis.”
It seems District 1 gun owners have no choice on guns when they actually have three:
- They can reward confirmed enemy and Giffords endorsee Fitzpatrick for rights rape, sending Republicans the message that no amount of infidelity and tyranny enablement will ever be too much.
- They can pull a Gonzalez and not vote.
- They can say the hell with it and vote for the Democrat gun-grabber to demonstrate that “moderate” Republican traitors are unacceptable, and until the rest of the party and Fudds for Fitzpatrick learn that, they can just feel our pain.
To channel Hillary Clinton, at this point, what difference does it make? And for those weak souls who would counter that doing this to all GOP betrayers means “we would lose our gun rights,” what they’re really saying is they would surrender theirs.
Say the Senate goes ahead and signs a new “assault weapons” ban and the Dotard-in-Chief signs it into law:
Are you going to give yours up?
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
