Sacramento, CA, Feb. 20, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FPC Calls President Trump’s ‘Bump Stock’ Ban “Lawless”
FPC has released the following statement regarding President Trump’s new demand for gun control and a ban on legal firearm parts:
Earlier today, President Donald Trump said that he signed “a memo” directing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to declare firearm parts, like so-called “bump stock” devices, to be illegal “machineguns” without due process or a legal basis in the statutes for doing so.
Just as we opposed the lawless manner in which President Obama often ruled by ‘pen-and-a-phone’ executive fiat, and we likewise object to and resist President Trump’s outrageous lawlessness here.
Last month, FPC submitted a formal letter of opposition to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ advanced noticed of proposed rulemaking on the “Application of the Definition of Machinegun to Bump Fire Stocks and Other Similar Devices.”
In our comments, we explained that the “DOJ and BATFE clearly lack the statutory authority to re-define the targeted devices as ‘machineguns’,” and that these ATF-approved and legally-possessed devices could not be regulated firearms under the statutes.
Today’s order makes clear that the Trump Administration will leave FPC and law-abiding gun owners no choice but to seek a judicial remedy. It is time for the People to wrestle back control of its policies from runaway executive branch officials and eliminate the “jiggery-pokery” of made-up judicial constructs like agency deference under cases like Encino Motorcars v. Navarro, Auer v. Robbins, and Chevron v. NRDC.
Regardless of the venue, the American peoples’ fundamental human rights—and lawfully-possessed private property—are not up for debate. As the Supreme Court held in its landmark, but too-often ignored, D.C. v. Heller decision, “The very enumeration of the right takes out of the hands of government—even the Third Branch of Government—the power to decide on a case-by-case basis whether the right is really worth insisting upon.”
If the Republican-held House and Senate, and President Donald Trump, choose to act on new gun control over the pro-gun rights legislation that the American people were promised in 2016, they will have shown the voters that neither major political party cares about their rights or the Constitution—and that the only real, civil option left is a new constitutional amendment.
FPC Launches New Federal Push to “Save the Second Amendment”
Following the Supreme Court’s announcement that it had denied review in two more Second Amendment lawsuits, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced a renewed federal push to secure the right to keep and bear arms for all law-abiding people throughout the nation. The gun rights group said that it would be focusing its efforts on a small number of key issue areas and laws that affect millions of law-abiding gun owners who live in, or travel to, states that are openly hostile to the fundamental, individual right to bear arms, like California and New Jersey.
“Having a substantive, accessible right to bear arms outside our homes is probably going make the difference in the long-term fight for the survival of our rights. That’s priority number one for us,” said Craig DeLuz, FPC’s senior legislative advocate. “First and foremost, this is about saving the Second Amendment from judges and politicians and making sure that all Americans can protect themselves.”
“We want to make sure that a law-abiding gun owner from Los Angeles can carry a loaded gun for self-defense in downtown San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or Trenton without worrying about being arrested,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “Just like free speech, due process, and marriage licenses, the right to carry and AR-15s should be available to law-abiding people everywhere.”
Other high-priority FPC efforts include legislation to pre-empt state and local laws that criminalize or prevent people from acquiring common firearms, parts, accessories, and ammunition, reforming or repealing old existing laws that pre-date D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, splitting up the regularly-overturned Ninth Circuit by creating a new federal circuit court, and confirming constitutional judges.
“The right to keep and bear arms is just as normal and important as any other enshrined in our Bill of Rights,” explained DeLuz. ‘It’s long past time that our laws, regulations, and the judicial system reflected that.”
Last year, the House of Representatives passed H.R.38, a bill that would enable people to carry a concealed handgun in any state as long as they can pass a background check and get a license from a state. Before the floor vote, it was combined with the “FixNICS” legislation to make changes to the federal background check system. In a statement following the House vote, FPC said that it was looking forward to promoting amendments to “what may very well become the most important right to bear arms bill in history” in order to “better protect law-abiding people” from “anti-gun executive agencies and bureaucrats.” H.R.38 is currently stalled in the Senate.
“At the end of the day, our federal legislative priorities are focused on reasonable, common-sense reforms,” said FPC legislative advocate Philip Watson. “FPC’s members and supporters are eager to see Congress and President Trump deliver what they promised in 2016.”
Attachments:
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6668695e-e68e-49d0-b529-681b4c39bf2f