“I believe that we have now broken the back of the gun lobby,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) in a recent CNN interview.
Sen. Murphy has long made clear his animus for the Second Amendment and the rights of America’s millions of gun owners, but what does he mean by “broken the back”?
It’s a curious comment, given that in just the last few years, NRA-backed constitutional carry has spread to more than a dozen states, bringing the total up to 27 states that get the government out of the way of this freedom. Beyond this, gun ownership has soared in the past few decades, with more-than-one-million background checks being conducted every month for almost four years running, according to data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Murphy also misses the strength of the NRA. Just look at the most-recent NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, Ind., where nearly 80,000 citizens attended in support of defending our constitutional rights.
With these examples in mind—as well as many others—Murphy’s claim that “we have now broken the back of the gun lobby” quickly falls apart. But this actually was just wishful thinking; he was referring to a gun-control law that was passed last year.
“I think people are proud that we finally passed legislation that the NRA opposed last year that does makes the country safer … . But it’s just not enough,” he said.
The legislation Murphy is pointing to, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), actually targets law-abiding gun owners, not violent criminals.
“[T]he NRA’s predictions about the BSCA have been vindicated, as young adults are now facing arbitrary waiting periods for lawful firearm purchases; the U.S. government is pouring money into unconstitutional state ‘red flag’ schemes; and DOJ is preparing a crackdown on private sales. Meanwhile, there is scant evidence the law is saving lives, as the high-profile sorts of crimes it was supposedly meant to address continue to grab headlines,” reported the NRA Institute for Legislative Action on the legislation’s effects.
Beyond this, Murphy echoed recent calls made by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) to enshrine anti-freedom measures into our the U.S. Constitution. None of these proposed measures, much like the BSCA, actually address the criminal element within society.
Nevertheless, last year, Sen. Murphy once again called for a ban on popular semi-automatic firearms and made the dishonest claim that “nobody’s talking about taking those weapons away from individuals; we’re just talking about stopping new sales.”
Actually, all he is talking about is continued infringements on our constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
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