On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee narrowly passed all four gun-control bills on a 14 to 12, straight party line vote. Every Democrat on the committee voted in favor, while all 12 Republicans defended the Second Amendment and voted NO. These bills are all unnecessary and do nothing except put law-abiding gun owners in jeopardy. This is about advancing a political agenda and has nothing to do with public safety.
Bills passed by the Judiciary Committee include:
HB 1099 is labeled as “ghost gun” legislation, however, this bill is not that. Rather, it attempts to create state law mirroring federal “undetectable” firearms law, but it fails and creates additional issues. This bill is problematic because it would adopt a state statute with language differing from federal law potentially creating problems with interpretation and misapplied enforcement. HB 1099 also lacks the exceptions present in federal law leaving law-abiding citizens vulnerable to prosecution.
HB 1593 would mandate universal background checks. Every dealer transaction in the country already must pass a background check. This bill does not keep guns out of the hands of criminals. This type of legislation results in more costly, bureaucratic red tape. The Commonwealth’s PICS check is also notorious for lengthy delays, denying purchasers with an urgent self-defense need.
HB 1859 creates emergency protection orders. These so-called “red flag” laws are susceptible to abuse and have no repercussions for making false accusations. The orders are granted ex parte with little to no due process.
HB 1866 would ban “machine gun conversion” devices. These devices are already illegal under both federal and state law. This bill is especially problematic due to discrepancies in definitions with existing federal law, making otherwise law-abiding gun owners susceptible to violations. HB 1866 uses imprecise “rate of fire” language, which could potentially ban legal, commonly owned hardware, such as competition triggers.
Interestingly, another bill adopting gun rationing was on the schedule but was pulled from consideration, presumably for lack of support. HB 837 prohibits gun owners from purchasing more than one handgun a month.
The full House could vote on these bills as early as next week. Your help is urgently needed! Please contact your Representative today and respectfully ask them to reject all of these bills and any new gun control.
Please stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website and your inbox for updates as this legislative session progresses.
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