Urge Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to Stop Blaming Law-Abiding Gun Owners for Criminal Violence
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick uses his political website to claim he is “leading the fight for life and liberty in Texas, including … standing up for the Second Amendment.” He also proudly notes his NRA endorsement.
But when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms, Dan Patrick is showing himself to be all hat and no cattle. On Friday, for example, he appeared on Fox News to promote a federal mandate for expanded background checks. In doing so, he exposed himself as not just unprincipled on the Second Amendment, but ill-informed as well.
The pretext of this about-face from his prior professed Second Amendment support comes from recent reports that a man responsible for the mass attack in Odessa, Tex. bought the gun he used in his crimes in an illegal private sale. Indeed, if the reports are to be believed, the sale was illegal on both ends. The seller is already being criminally investigated for unlicensed manufacturing and sale of firearms, while the accused killer – now dead – was reportedly prohibited by law from possessing firearms at all.
Both men, in other words, allegedly violated the laws that were already in place. The one who is still alive appears on his way to well-deserved punishment. If ever there was a scenario that could not have been prevented simply by adding more laws to be broken into the situation, this would be it.
As we noted in a statement responding to Patrick on Friday:
"With due respect, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s ‘proposals’ would resurrect the same broken, Bloomberg-funded failures that were attempted under the Obama administration. Like most political gambits, Lt. Gov. Patrick’s ‘solution’ precedes his possession of the facts, including this critical concession by the Obama administration: Criminalizing private firearm transfers would require a massive, governmental gun registration scheme. Instead of trampling the freedom of law-abiding Americans, the government should focus upon actual solutions: fixing our broken mental health system, prosecuting known criminals and enforcing the existing gun laws that require follow-up whenever a prohibited person tries to buy a firearm. In the meantime, the NRA remains at the forefront of legitimate efforts to combat crime in our country. We encourage Lt. Gov. Patrick to join us in support of the same."
But Patrick now claims the incident shows the need for expanded background checks on lawful firearm transfers. The bottom line is that Dan Patrick is proposing banning private transfers without understanding the facts or the evidence.
Urge Lt. Governor Dan Patrick to Stop Blaming Law-Abiding Gun Owners for Criminal Violence
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick uses his political website to claim he is “leading the fight for life and liberty in Texas, including … standing up for the Second Amendment.” He also proudly notes his NRA endorsement.
But when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms, Dan Patrick is showing himself to be all hat and no cattle. On Friday, for example, he appeared on Fox News to promote a federal mandate for expanded background checks. In doing so, he exposed himself as not just unprincipled on the Second Amendment, but ill-informed as well.
The pretext of this about-face from his prior professed Second Amendment support comes from recent reports that a man responsible for the mass attack in Odessa, Tex. bought the gun he used in his crimes in an illegal private sale. Indeed, if the reports are to be believed, the sale was illegal on both ends. The seller is already being criminally investigated for unlicensed manufacturing and sale of firearms, while the accused killer – now dead – was reportedly prohibited by law from possessing firearms at all.
Both men, in other words, allegedly violated the laws that were already in place. The one who is still alive appears on his way to well-deserved punishment. If ever there was a scenario that could not have been prevented simply by adding more laws to be broken into the situation, this would be it.
As we noted in a statement responding to Patrick on Friday:
"With due respect, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s ‘proposals’ would resurrect the same broken, Bloomberg-funded failures that were attempted under the Obama administration. Like most political gambits, Lt. Gov. Patrick’s ‘solution’ precedes his possession of the facts, including this critical concession by the Obama administration: Criminalizing private firearm transfers would require a massive, governmental gun registration scheme. Instead of trampling the freedom of law-abiding Americans, the government should focus upon actual solutions: fixing our broken mental health system, prosecuting known criminals and enforcing the existing gun laws that require follow-up whenever a prohibited person tries to buy a firearm. In the meantime, the NRA remains at the forefront of legitimate efforts to combat crime in our country. We encourage Lt. Gov. Patrick to join us in support of the same."
But Patrick now claims the incident shows the need for expanded background checks on lawful firearm transfers. The bottom line is that Dan Patrick is proposing banning private transfers without understanding the facts or the evidence.