A gun control bill introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee seeks to create a national firearm registry and make it illegal to possess a firearm without a license.
The minimum age for licensing would be 21, while possession of a “military-style weapon” – defined by Fox News as including “a broad range of semiautomatic rifles and handguns as well as some shotguns” – would be criminalized without it.
Lee’s (D-TX) legislation would also require psychological evaluations, purchase of insurance, completion of a government-run training course, and ban ammunition of .50 caliber or greater except for use by law enforcement.
“Anyone who has ever been hospitalized due to mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, homicidal or suicidal thoughts or a brain disease would not be eligible to obtain a firearms license,” Fox reports.
Syndicated columnist Jacob Sullum calls the bill “draconian” and claims “it would turn millions of peaceful gun owners into felons.”
?WARNING: Dangerous gun control bill #HR127 introduced by @JacksonLeeTX18:
• Establishes federal gun registry
• Mandatory psych evaluations
• Mandatory firearms training
• Establishes publicly accessible database of gun ownershttps://t.co/P4aEWKuujH— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) February 1, 2021
Gun Control Bill Has Similarities With Biden’s Vision
Hours before the election, President Biden solidified his stance on the Second Amendment with a tweet vowing “common-sense reforms.”
Biden promised that should he capture the White House, he would ban “assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
“It’s long past time we take action to end the scourge of gun violence in America,” he tweeted.
It’s long past time we take action to end the scourge of gun violence in America.
As president, I’ll ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, implement universal background checks, and enact other common-sense reforms to end our gun violence epidemic.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 1, 2020
Biden’s campaign website is littered with radical proposals including:
- Making gun manufacturers liable for crimes.
- Banning assault weapons and standard-capacity magazine bans.
- Requiring the registration of semi-automatic rifles the same as automatic rifles.
- Buyback of ‘assault weapons.’
His campaign site defines the Second Amendment as “limited” and vows to “pursue constitutional, common-sense gun safety policies.”
This is an example why I want to make Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary State —>
Gun control bill from Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee would create national firearm registry, require licensing.
We must erect a complete barrier to gun regulations like this. https://t.co/gKtGnISqzf
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 6, 2021
Democrats Radical Anti-Second Amendment Efforts
Sullum notes that Lee’s bill is far more radical than what President Biden has proposed, but the two share the same attitude toward the Second Amendment.
“Proposals like Lee’s help make Biden’s gun control agenda look moderate and reasonable by comparison,” he writes.
“But his attitude, like hers, shows that Democrats would be perfectly happy to expurgate the Bill of Rights if only the courts would let them.”
A bill that is unenforceable and that would, quite rightly, be defied by millions of Americans. https://t.co/dnxzDaiV0B via @reason
— J.D. Tuccille (@JD_Tuccille) February 6, 2021
Biden has expressed a desire to work with anti-gun zealots in the past, suggesting he would have Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), a man who has vowed to forcibly confiscate firearms from law-abiding citizens, play a ‘lead’ role in his efforts to reform gun control laws in America.
Joe Biden tells Beto, of “hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47,” fame that “you’re going to take care of the gun problem with me. You’re gonna to be the one who leads this effort.” pic.twitter.com/rKNlkyHWYA
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) March 3, 2020
During the campaign, Biden made the wildly inaccurate claim that 150 million Americans have died due to gun violence since 2007 and used that to tell gun manufacturers that “I’m coming for you.”
Democrats like Sheila Jackson Lee are coming for lawful gun owners in extreme ways.