Congressman Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican with a pro-Second Amendment record, is the new Speaker of the House following 22 days of turmoil which some believe could come back to haunt House Republicans in the 2024 elections.
Axios describes Johnson as “a social conservative” who “typically votes in line with his Republican colleagues and has a 92% rating from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action.”
In 2017, Johnson co-sponsored H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act. At the time, he issued a statement explaining, “The constitutional right to keep and bear arms should not be confined by state lines. Our legislation ensures that law-abiding citizens who obtain a concealed carry permit are not denied their rights when traveling to other states. I am a concealed carry permit holder myself and will continue to support measures in Congress that preserve the Second Amendment.”
In July of this year, he co-sponsored legislation dubbed the “Preserving Rights Of Tenants by Ensuring Compliance To (PROTECT) the Second Amendment Act.” According to his office at the time, the package had three main objectives:
- Protecting tenants’ rights to lawfully own a firearm within federally assisted rental housing;
- Allowing the lawful transport of firearms through common areas when entering and exiting the property; and
- Preventing property managers and landlords who accept federal assistance from prohibiting or discriminating against tenants’ constitutional right to own a firearm.
Last year, according to NBC News, Johnson was among the 193 Republicans who voted against Joe Biden’s “modest new gun law”—the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”
Johnson was the fourth Republican nominated for the position since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in early October.
Johnson’s tenure is likely to see the establishment media trying to marginalize him. Fox News is reporting that ABC correspondent Rachel Scott was quick to ask the new speaker about his “effort” to “overturn” the 2020 presidential election results. The question was immediately met with groans and “a torrent of boos” with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) telling her to “Shut up!”
