We know our liberty is in great danger when the only thing standing between our freedom and the tyranny of a thin majority—a political faction that detests the Second Amendment of the U.S. Bill of Rights—may be the U.S. Senate’s filibuster rule.
The U.S. Senate’s filibuster was quaking under the pressure of the unconstitutional ambitions of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer, and others, who were pushing the words of Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) to what they hoped would be their breaking point.
If they break—and they may have by the time you are reading this—and the other 46 Democrats (plus two “independents” that caucus with the Democrats) in the U.S. Senate vote to kill the filibuster, gun control like America has never seen before could flood through Congress by slim, majority votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris (D) breaking 50-50 U.S. Senate ties.
If the filibuster stays in place, however, the minority can hold up legislation—a stop that can only be broken by a 60-vote majority—which would force Sen. Schumer to compromise, or, if a compromise can’t be found, to back off.
To see how worrisome a threat this is, consider that, in February, a letter from more than 60 progressive groups to Sen. Schumer urged him to kill the filibuster rule. The groups that signed this letter included gun-control groups, such as Brady, March for Our Lives and the Newtown Action Alliance.
One thing they want is a new ban on so-called “assault weapons” (so-called because the only way to define this term is politically, as in how some particular law defines it).
But that’s only one thing they want.
The most-egregious bill in the U.S. House of Representatives is H.R. 127, the “Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act.” Although it showed little sign of movement, it certainly speaks volumes about the ultimate goals of anti-gun extremists. H.R. 127 includes a national gun registry, requirements for psychological evaluations for anyone who wants to keep their guns and even bans on some types of ammunition.
As this was going to print, two anti-Second Amendment bills had passed the House—H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446. After they passed, Sen. Schumer promised that the U.S. Senate would consider gun-control legislation. If the filibuster rule is killed by Democrats in the Senate, they could pass these bills on party-line votes.
H.R. 1446 would allow government bureaucrats to indefinitely delay, and perhaps prevent, lawful firearm transfers. This could be used as an end-run around the U.S. Constitution, as a right that’s indefinitely delayed is a right denied. This would also particularly impact the poor, as costly legal action would no doubt be necessary for some to force the FBI to clear their names.
H.R. 8, meanwhile, is a so-called “universal” background check bill. If passed, no doubt anti-gun members of Congress would next argue that a federal gun registry is needed; after all, to have even a theoretical chance of working, law-enforcement and prosecutors would need to know who is supposed to own a particular gun before they’d be able to tell if a gun had been lawfully transferred between family members, friends and so on.
That’s a taste of the America that Sen. Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and President Joe Biden (D) would like to give us.
For at least the next two years (until a midterm election could change the balance of power in Congress), this is the threat American freedom faces.
