

Today, House Democrats will begin hearing bills to strip you -- and all of us law- abiding gun owners -- of our God-given, constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.

According to our friends at Gun Owners of America House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler will hear at least gun control measures today:

1) Magazine bans (H.R. 1186). This bill would ban all magazines with a capacity of over 10 rounds. If this bill were to pass into law, gun owners across the country would have to pray that they were never forced to defend themselves and their families against multiple attackers -- as evidenced in Florida, Texas or Missouri.

2) “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation Orders (H.R. 1236/H.R. 3076). We’ve talked a lot about this legislation already. This bill would allow an angry relative or former boyfriend/girlfriend to petition a court to strip you of your gun rights, with nothing but a list of unsubstantiated allegations.

This is exactly what happened to Gary Willis of Ferndale, Maryland, and he was shot by police during the execution of the gun confiscation order.

3) Pervert Protection Act (H.R. 2708). Finally, this so-called “hate crime” bill would impose a lifetime gun ban on gun owners for non-violent actions -- primarily because they held views Democrats don’t like.

As our friend Rachel Bovard pointed out in a recent column for American Greatness, the Democrats’ justification for their gun confiscation plans are largely based on lies and misrepresentations.

One of most often repeated Democrat lies cited by Ms. Bovard is this whopper by California’s Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein: “The assault weapons ban worked. Studies prove that mass shootings dropped while it was in effect.”

Except it didn’t says Ms. Bovard.

“There is no compelling evidence that it saved lives,” according to Duke University public policy experts Philip Cook and Kristin Goss. A 2004 Department of Justice study found no evidence the ban had any effect on gun violence, stating “should it be renewed, the ban’s effects on gun violence are likely to be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement.” Other studies have found no statistically significant relationship between “assault” weapons or large-capacity magazine bans and homicide rates.

There is also substantial misunderstanding surrounding what the Assault Weapons Ban, which passed in 1994 and sunset in 2004, actually did. It didn’t ban anyone from owning an “assault-style” (again, an undefined term) weapon. All magazines and weapons produced before the ban were grandfathered in, and some companies actually ramped up production of the soon-to-be-outlawed firearm components, drastically increasing ownership of what lawmakers were seeking to reduce.

So, if the ban didn’t actually apply specifically to types of guns, asks Ms. Bovard, to what did it apply?

Mostly cosmetic “military-style” features. Specifically: semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines and certain additional features, including pistol grips, bayonet mounts, folding stocks, or magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Also, given the frequently cited claim that “assault weapons lead to more murder,” Ms. Bovard says it’s worth pointing out that at least 730,000 AR-15s were manufactured and legally sold while the Assault Weapons Ban was in effect, and the national murder rate declined.

As our friends at Gun Owners of America pointed out, we know the House Democrats can pass virtually any gun control measure they want.

The real challenge is to make sure that House Republicans don’t join them. Because if they do, then that will cause Senate Republicans to defect in large numbers.

And if only 13 GOP Senators turn to the “dark side,” gun control will pass both chambers of Congress.

We’ve already seen, in recent weeks, Republicans who are usually solid limited government constitutional conservatives, like Dan Crenshaw of Texas, say they might support a “red flag” law.

Naturally, Democrats want their gun confiscation bills to pass, but if they can’t pass both houses of Congress this time, they will be just as happy to peel off more Republicans, so that next time they are one step closer to being able to implement their anti-constitutional, anti-liberty agenda – which is why we need to keep hammering House Republicans urging them to hold firm.

You can use the Gun Owners of America website to email your Representative through this link or you can call your Representative through the toll free Capitol Switchboard (1-866-220-0044). Tell your Representative that the Second Amendment is not negotiable and demand that he or she vote against the magazine bans in H.R. 1186, the “Red Flag” Gun Confiscation Orders in H.R. 1236/H.R. 3076 and the specious “hate crime” confiscation orders in H.R. 2708.

CHQ Editor George Rasley is a certified rifle and pistol instructor, a Glock ® certified pistol armorer and a veteran of over 300 political campaigns, including every Republican presidential campaign from 1976 to 2008. He served as lead advance representative for Governor Sarah Palin in 2008 and has served as a staff member, consultant or advance representative for some of America's most recognized conservative Republican political figures, including President Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp. He served in policy and communications positions on the House and Senate staff, and during the George H.W. Bush administration he served on the White House staff of Vice President Dan Quayle.