Texas Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, the veteran Democrat who is in her 14th term on Capitol Hill, is being roundly criticized for introducing H.R. 127, what gun rights activists consider an extremist gun control measure that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms says is “insanity on steroids.”
“Over the years,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “we’ve seen some astonishingly bad legislation originate on Capitol Hill, but this one takes the term ‘abomination’ to an entirely new level. One look at this bill and you wonder whether Congresswoman Jackson Lee ever heard of the Bill of Rights, which includes the Second Amendment.”
The legislation may be read here.
In a news release, Gottlieb said the bill is “a constitutionally-challenged monstrosity.” The legislation would require licensing of gun owners, psychological evaluations to determine suitability to own a firearm, retroactive gun registration and separate licensing for modern sporting rifles. Successful licensees must show they have an insurance policy which will cost $800.
Furthermore, H.R. 127 would require the owner of any firearm to supply the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the make, model and serial number of every gun he or she owns, and that includes firearms people may have owned for years. They would also have to report the identity of any person to whom, and any period of time during which, the firearm will be loaned to that individual, CCRKBA complained.
Gottlieb wondered whether Jackson Lee “skipped high school civics.” She is currently the only sponsor.
“This legislation treats firearms owners like second-class citizens for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” he asserted. “It’s an outrage that a member of Congress could even conceive of such a measure, much less propose that it become law.”
The legislation is known as the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, in memory of a foreign exchange student from Pakistan who was among 10 people killed at the Santa Fe High School shooting near Houston in May 2018. The 17-year-old accused in the shooting allegedly used a shotgun and pistol owned by his father, according to an account of the incident at Wikipedia.
Writing Monday at The Outdoor Wire, editor Jim Shepherd observed, “If the fight’s beginning, we’d better all be prepared to get off the sidelines and make our voices heard. Otherwise, be prepared for your magazines that hold more than ten rounds to be either taxed or confiscated, universal background checks to be put into place, private sales of firearms to be banned, and ammunition sales to be limited in quantity, prohibited on the internet and by mail, and background checks to be required.”
He also notes this is National Gun Violence Survivor Week. According to Everytown for Gun Safety—the Michael Bloomberg-backed gun confiscation lobbying group—this week “represents the approximate time that gun deaths in the United States surpass the number of gun deaths experienced by our peer countries in an entire calendar year.” Shepherd notes this is powerful symbolism. Anti-gunners are big on symbolism.
