Last night at 9:42 pm, 65 Senators broke their oath’s of office to vote for further infringements on the 2nd Amendment. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) long lingering “red flag” bill, S. 2938, was used as a scaffold upon which to hang a bipartisan gun control amendment. Among the oath breakers were 15 weak-kneed, Republican Senators (highlighted in the attached). Not one Democrat or Independent Senator voted against the amendment, and two Republicans (Cotton, AR and Cramer, ND) did not bother to vote.
Interestingly, among the 33 Republicans who stood up for the 2nd Amendment and voted “No,” were S. 2938’s sponsor (Rubio) and its lone co-sponsor (Rick Scott, R-FL). Rubio is up for reelection this November, so perhaps he understands that he needs to differentiate himself from his Democrat opponent, Val Demings. Scott must be voting in support of his fellow Republican because, he is definitely a “red flag” proponent, having signed Florida’s version into law after the Parkland school shooting.
The amended version of S. 2938 now heads to the House, where it will, in all likelihood, be passed today and sent to Der Fuehrer Biden’s desk for signature.
While no infringements of the 2nd Amendment should be tolerated, pragmatically speaking, this could have been much worse. Bribing states to institute “red flag” laws buys time for legislative battles in those states that haven’t already implemented them. Digging into juvenile records for individuals aged 18 until 21 at least does not prohibit firearms purchases by those individuals outright. The change to the “engaged in business” definition is purely semantics and has no real effect (See also, “The Art of Doing Nothing”). Stiffer penalties for committing existing crimes related “illegal trafficking” don’t affect law abiding citizens. Finally, closing the so-called “boyfriend loophole” by adding misdemeanor convictions for domestic violence by a person who has a current or recent former dating relationship with the victim to the list of prohibited persons, does throw a wider net, but it is qualified by the words “current or recent former” and it will not be applied retroactively for such convictions.
In my opinion, if you are walking around a free person, that is you’re not in jail, prison, a mental institution, or still serving some court ordered penance like parole, probation, half-way house, etc., then you should have all your rights, including 2nd Amendment and voting rights restored automatically. Don't infringe my rights because others can't be trusted with their rights.
Yeah, well, I'm still pissed even if I'm not directly affected, at least, not yet. The "red flag" thing gets so far under my skin that I need to do way more than scratch. I want to rip the skin off. A friend of mine in N.C. is good friends (or so I thought) with Thom Tillis, one of the "collaborators" on this treason of rights. Thom, in his opinion (and he is tied into the Republican Party there in a big way) wants to look more moderate because he has designs on the governorship of N.C. I, frustrated, send him some constitutional information for Tillis. It looks like he got a form letter back. Some friend (Thom, not mine). At…