[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 9, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H1182-H1185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Biggs) is recognized
until 10 p.m. as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Arizona for his very
informative speech here about our coming, looming economic issues.
Mr. Speaker, for the last 2 weeks, the majority has attacked the
First Amendment; and now they are attacking the Second Amendment. The
Second Amendment clearly states the right of the people to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed. And as Justice Scalia noted in his
decision in Heller, the Second Amendment does not give Americans a
right; it protects a preexisting right. Hence, the phrase, ``Shall not
be infringed.''
{time} 2130
Our theme for the next 30 minutes will be about H.R. 8 and the damage
it will do to the Second Amendment which is, as Justice Scalia noted, a
preexisting right.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Hice).
Mr. HICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Arizona for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, we are all concerned with this bill, H.R. 8. And the
reality is, the big money donors and powerful special interest groups
behind the Democratic Party for a long time have sought to undermine,
restrict, and even eliminate the Second Amendment rights of Americans.
With the Democratic Party now calling the shots here in Washington,
quite frankly, the majority party is not even trying to hide their true
agenda.
Masquerading as supposedly good-faith proposals to end gun violence,
what they are really putting in place are the stepping-stones to
creating a national firearm registry and eventually even confiscating
firearms.
H.R. 8 is being considered later this week, and it would implement a
universal background check system. The majority claims that this is an
obvious solution to gun violence, but that is simply not the case at
all.
Gun violence in America is complex, and so are the solutions. But the
overwhelming majority of criminals would not be stopped by H.R. 8
whatsoever. In fact, the Justice Department itself, by its own data,
says that 75 percent of criminals in prison who possessed a firearm
obtained it through theft, the black market, or family and friends.
Secondly, we know that the vast majority of mass shooters would have
been able to pass background checks. This bill does not in any way end
gun violence.
But what it does do is create a national gun registry that will
eventually be used against law-abiding Americans.
Without a permanent database of who owns a firearm, the Federal
Government would not be able to determine whether a private firearm
transfer took place with the required background check.
So that brings to us the real aim of this bill, H.R. 8. It paves the
way for this database to be used at a later date in a national gun
confiscation program.
Mr. Speaker, don't take my word for it.
Even President Biden, himself, in August 2019, said that he does
support confiscating assault weapons which he would consider AR-15
style.
So, Mr. Speaker, the threat is real. We are in a major fight for
those who are trying to dismantle and eliminate the Second Amendment.
We are not blowing smoke here. H.R. 8 is a massive move in that
direction, and we stand here tonight to say: No, we are not going to
allow that to happen on our watch.
We have to be vigilant, and we have to stand guard for our freedoms.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Arizona,
for yielding to me.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend from Ohio (Mr.
Davidson).
Mr. DAVIDSON. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. And I
thank this body for still continuing the tradition of this opportunity
to speak and have our voices heard, even though we are in the minority.
We don't control the floor, we can't put our bills on the agenda to
have a debate, and often we can't even get an amendment considered on
the bills. The Rules Committee strips out anything that would
materially change a bill. Sadly, that has been a bipartisan approach to
governing in this body. That is not a functioning legislature when
those kinds of things happen.
Why is that important?
Every Member needs to have their voice heard, and they should be
heard on the bill. They should be heard when this body wants to change
our constitutional protections fundamentally. The right to keep and
bear arms shall not be infringed. The majority doesn't seek to amend
the Constitution, but they seek to nullify that constitutional
guarantee with subterfuge.
They say that this is a background check bill. Well, every commercial
firearm transaction today already requires a background check. It
doesn't matter whether you do it at a gun store, at a gun show, or at
any other forum, if you buy a firearm from a commercial seller of
firearms, a Federal firearm license holder, you have to do a background
check. You can't do it, Mr. Speaker.
Now, what does this do?
It basically says, Mr. Speaker, that if you want to even loan a gun
to a family member to go on a hunting trip, then you have to get a
background check. Someone would be criminalized for doing that. You
can't have private transfers. Essentially, the government says you
can't be trusted to sell a firearm to anybody. You have to go to a
licensed agent of the Federal Government.
How do they guarantee that?
They guarantee that by creating a registry.
Why should we be concerned about that?
Well, that is the path toward seizing it. It doesn't guarantee that
the Government will do it, but let me tell you about the Supreme Court
and what is going on right now, Mr. Speaker.
Under the Fourth Amendment, there is a clause that has been
interpreted by Court opinions to allow seizures for community care--
warrantless seizures of property. This goes with civil asset forfeiture
and all kinds of abuses of warrantless surveillance and the Fourth
Amendment. If we do not stand up and defend the Second Amendment today,
it will be just as abused as the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of
privacy is today.
We have to oppose this bill. The people of the United States of
America are constitutionally guaranteed the right to keep and bear
arms, and this body shall not infringe it, and it shall not be
infringed without a constitutional amendment, and that is not what is
on the floor today.
Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to oppose H.R. 8 and any such effort to
deny the American citizens the protections our Constitution guarantees.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina
(Mr. Budd).
[[Page H1183]]
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, as a Federally licensed gun store owner, I
have a unique perspective on our Second Amendment rights, and I
actually happen to know how background checks actually work.
It seems that H.R. 8 is being sold as universal background checks,
and it would impose harsh penalties, like six-figure fines and jail
time, for the simple act of handing a firearm to another person even
for temporary use, like instruction.
The exemptions under H.R. 8 are woefully inadequate to protect the
rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Let's say, Mr. Speaker, that you loan your firearm to a victim of
domestic violence because their abuser is just getting ready to be
released from jail, or if a suicidal friend asks you to take possession
of their firearm, or if you loan your cousin a gun after a series of
burglaries in their neighborhood. These new transfer penalties would
turn law-abiding citizens into criminals.
We simply cannot sacrifice our rights by passing laws that will make
our families less safe and laws that criminals will simply ignore. We
must always protect and preserve our God-given Second Amendment rights.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his speech.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Good).
Mr. GOOD of Virginia. Shall not be infringed. Shall not be infringed.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
James Madison, our fourth President, the primary architect of the
Constitution and the first Congressman from Virginia's Fifth District,
said: ``Americans have the right and advantage of being armed--unlike
the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust
the people with arms.''
Our right to arm and defend ourselves is a God-given right, and we
are privileged to live in a country whose Founders had the wisdom and
the strength to codify that right in the Constitution.
James Madison and our other Founders recognized that this was a
fundamental right to protect our rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness; and they had the foresight to include this right
among those first 10 amendments listed in the Constitution which were
intended to protect us from our government. It was James Madison who
also said: ``The truth is that all men having power ought to be
mistrusted.''
The Second Amendment is not about hunting--that is great. It is not,
again, primarily about self-defense or protecting our family--that is
essential. It is about being a check against tyranny and ensure we
remain a free people.
There is a reason it was the second right listed in the Bill of
Rights--second only to the First Amendment protections of our right to
free speech, assembly, and worship. The Second Amendment is the
guarantor or protector of all other rights. If our Second Amendment
right is not safe, then no rights are safe, and with this Democrat
majority in this Congress, this right is not safe.
In my last quote tonight from James Madison, he also said: ``I
believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the
people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by
violent and sudden usurpations.''
We are witnessing the gradual encroachment on our fundamental Second
Amendment right today by this Democrat majority.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to my friend from Texas (Mr. Cloud).
Mr. CLOUD. Mr. Speaker, what we are considering here today with H.R.
8 has been dubbed a universal background check bill, but in reality, it
would criminalize--let me say that again--it would criminalize the
private transfer of firearms.
As part of the march to strip Americans of their guaranteed Second
Amendment right, this gun control bill would make it a crime to sell or
transfer a firearm without first seeking permission from the almighty
Government.
The dirty secret is that the proponents of gun control, Mr. Speaker,
want you to think that this is the end of the road when, in fact, that
is not true. In 2013 President Obama's Department of Justice's National
Institute of Justice said that the effectiveness of universal
background checks depends on requiring gun registration.
So what we are witnessing here today is the first step to requiring a
nationwide gun registration in America.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution says: ``A well regulated
militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of
the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.''
In this Nation of ``We the People,'' we recognize that we as citizens
are not subjects of our government and that our inalienable rights are
not a grant from the government but a gift from God, and to that end
the Second Amendment doesn't grant us a right, but rather those
carefully crafted words acknowledge an already existing right: the
right of the people to possess a firearm.
The Constitution does not say you may or may not be able to own a
firearm, we will circle back with you, we will get back with you on
that.
It doesn't. It guarantees the right.
This bill does nothing to make communities more safe. This is another
overreaching attempt by leftist leaders drunk on unchecked power to
control the lives of freedom-loving citizens.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to oppose this legislation.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina
(Mr. Norman).
Mr. NORMAN. Mr. Speaker, the right of the people to keep and bear
arms in the United States is a fundamental principle expressed in our
Bill of Rights.
Let me be clear: I will never do anything to infringe upon this right
clearly laid out in our Second Amendment, but this bill, H.R. 8, will
do just that.
H.R. 8 is a sweeping piece of legislation that imposes burdens on the
constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. It is plain and simple.
This bill is another attempt by Democrats to limit the rights of the
American people.
This legislation would make it a crime, subject to limited
exceptions, to simply hand a firearm to another person. This bill could
trigger penalties of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
This bill would make it illegal to transfer a firearm to another
person during a life-threatening emergency. That could be considered a
crime punishable by a fine of monetary dollars.
Also, just so we are on the same page, universal background checks do
not stop criminals from possessing firearms. As my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle have said: In the United States less than one
percent of criminals who had possessed a firearm during their offense
got firearms through legal channels--less than one percent. That means
that these criminals obtained their firearms outside of the setting
that would require a background check to begin with.
What makes you believe that this legislation would change that, Mr.
Speaker?
Our solution should be focused on improving access to mental
healthcare services, addressing the root causes of violence, and
carrying out our existing laws through investments in our law
enforcement and community programs--not walking all over law-abiding
citizens for protecting their loved ones. We all swore to uphold the
Constitution, and it should be our goal in this Congress to work
against legislation like this that would clearly infringe on our Second
Amendment rights of American citizens.
Mr. Speaker, I will be a resounding ``no'' when it is time to vote.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs.
Greene).
Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to Democrat
gun control bills far and wide.
I would like to tell you about a gun law in Georgia: In order to
provide for the emergency management of the city, and further, in order
to provide for and protect the safety, security and general welfare of
the city and its inhabitants, every head of household residing in the
city limits is required to maintain a firearm, together with
ammunition.
{time} 2145
Mr. Speaker, that is Kennesaw, Georgia, where, over 6 years, there
has only been one murder and a violent crime rate of 2 percent.
[[Page H1184]]
Would you like to know why? It is because every single criminal knows
that if they are going to attack someone in Kennesaw, Georgia, they are
going to go across a gun owner, and it is the law that every household
and homeowner owns a gun and keeps one in their household.
You see, guns are not scary. The fact that we may not have guns is
scary. Guns are a great form of protection. It is an equalizer to a
criminal who could care less about all the gun laws that Democrats want
to pass on Americans, infringing on their Second Amendment rights.
H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 are just more gun control legislation violating
Americans' great right to bear arms. I rise in opposition to both of
these bills, and I hope that the Democrats will come to their senses
and figure out that gun rights are American rights.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Colorado
(Mrs. Boebert).
Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, in 2019, as a private citizen, a mom, a
small business owner, I was ticked off that a politician running for
President of the United States wanted to strip away our enumerated
constitutional rights. So with my Glock on my hip, I drove 3 hours to
tell Robert Francis O'Rourke, also known as Beto, hell no, you are not
taking our guns.
That message resonated with millions of Americans. But, sadly, the
Democrat Party, isolated in their basements and gated mansions, still
hasn't gotten the message. Those on the left who would steamroll the
rights of law-abiding citizens are still at it.
My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to be totally
oblivious to the message Americans sent in 2020. Nearly 8.5 million
Americans purchased a firearm for the very first time in 2020. With the
left defunding the police, and antifa rioting, looting, burning down
businesses, people made the reasonable and rational decision to take
self-protection seriously and arm themselves.
And the Democrat response? More regulations, more bureaucracy, more
control, less freedom.
Mr. Speaker, I will say it again, and I will say it nice and loud so
everyone can hear me. Those on the left are still tucked away safely in
their gated mansions with their armed security, ignoring everyday
Americans.
For me, this is a hell no. It is a hell no to government treading on
our rights. It is a hell no to the regulation of our Second Amendment.
It is a hell no to government trampling on our freedoms.
All these new gun laws will do is leave law-abiding citizens
defenseless while criminals--wait for it--break the law.
So, I have a few questions for my colleagues on the left. I want to
know, why do you trust the American people so little? Why do you look
down on them as lesser than you? How detached are you to believe that
someone else's rights should be subject to bureaucratic permission, to
your permission? Why is it okay to provide armed security for yourself
but take away the right of Americans to do so themselves?
Why do you feel the need to keep a registry of gun owners? Do you not
trust the American people? Are you afraid of your neighbors? Do you
despise their rights?
How much power over the American people will it take to satisfy these
radicals on the left? Our rights don't come from politicians. They come
from God Almighty. Stop pretending to be God. Do your job and protect
the rights of the American people.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Montana (Mr.
Rosendale).
Mr. ROSENDALE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the extreme gun control
measures being pushed by the Democratic majority. Make no mistake, they
are extreme and an assault on our freedoms.
The Second Amendment guarantees the right of every American to keep
and bear arms. I am proud to be from the State with the highest rate of
gun ownership in the Nation. In Montana, law-abiding gun owners use
firearms every day and exercise their God-given liberties.
Mr. Speaker, the bills in the House this week serve only to punish
responsible gun owners and take away the Second Amendment rights of
Montanans.
H.R. 8 would not just require background checks for the sale of
firearms but for changes of ownership and even the most temporary
transfers of possession. Someone who simply hands a firearm to another
person could be subject to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
This would include the rancher who lends his gun to a neighbor whose
cattle are being harassed by coyotes or to the hunter who lends a rifle
to a buddy who is going on a hunting trip. This is deeply troubling, as
these scenarios are very common in Montana.
H.R. 1446 is just as bad. While it claims to close a gun-buying
loophole, it would give the FBI discretion to delay firearm purchases
or transfers indefinitely and could even put the burden on law-abiding
citizens to prove that they are eligible to purchase a firearm.
The Framers of our Constitution did not intend for us to have to beg
the government to be able to exercise our freedoms. In fact, they
included the Second Amendment to make sure that we didn't have to.
``Shall not be infringed'' is extremely clear. Unfortunately, that is
exactly the path that Democrats seem intent on pursuing.
I thank my colleagues who stand with me today, and I urge all of my
colleagues who cherish our constitutional liberties to join me in
opposing these bills and any other bill that would infringe on our
Second Amendment rights.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Illinois
(Mrs. Miller).
Mrs. MILLER of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and
colleague, Congressman Biggs, for this Special Order.
We swore an oath to defend the Constitution, which includes the
Second Amendment. But now, Democrats are going back on that oath by
proposing H.R. 8, saying that we should enforce universal background
checks on guns.
Continuing to put forth far-reaching laws on guns will only
significantly increase the burden of the millions of law-abiding
Americans who wish to exercise their Second Amendment right to self-
defense.
In my State of Illinois, Chicago has the fourth-strictest gun laws in
the country, but criminal misuse of firearms in Chicago remains at the
top of the list. This is because, if there is one thing that we know
about criminals, it is that they don't care about obeying the law.
The Second Amendment was written to prevent the government from
seizing arms. H.R. 8 is an attack on our rights and is one step closer
to doing exactly what our Founders were guarding against.
We do not need to punish law-abiding citizens. Instead, we should do
all we can to cherish and protect this right that we are so blessed to
have.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, it is now my privilege to yield to the
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).
Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in defense of the Second Amendment and
in opposition to H.R. 8, the universal background checks act.
Federal law already restricts transferring firearms to prohibited
individuals. Instead of working to strengthen the enforcement of laws
currently on the books, this legislation will criminalize many
activities that are common practice among law-abiding gun owners, while
failing to prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals.
Criminals do not follow the law when obtaining their firearms, and
nothing in the bill would prevent them from continuing to obtain
firearms through avenues like the black market, theft, or illegal straw
purchases.
Federal law already strictly prohibits the possession, receipt, or
purchase of firearms by prohibited individuals, including convicted
felons, fugitives from justice, unlawful users of controlled
substances, illegal aliens, and individuals subject to protective
orders or convicted of a crime of domestic violence.
Meanwhile, law-abiding citizens could face up to a year in prison and
a $100,000 fine for common practices such as trades, private sales,
gifts, or temporary loans of firearms if this bill becomes law.
[[Page H1185]]
Lastly, I will note that under the rules of interpretation in H.R. 8,
it says: ``Rules of interpretation. Nothing in this act, or any
amendment made by this act, shall be construed to: authorize the
establishment, directly or indirectly, of a national firearms
registry.''
That is false. This bill will create a national registry. That is
because every firearms transfer has to go through a Federal firearms
licensee's acquisition and disposition logbook. And every time a
Federal firearms license is not renewed, those records must be sent to
the ATF for storage, which, in turn, scans those records into a
database for a future use. That is, in effect, a national firearms
registry in the making.
If the rules of interpretation of H.R. 8 are correctly followed, then
one could logically argue that this bill actually prohibits itself by,
in its own words, prohibiting, directly or indirectly, a national
firearms registry.
Mr. BIGGS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I thank the gentleman from Georgia. I thank all of my colleagues. I
appreciate the opportunity to be with so many of my friends who support
the Second Amendment and oppose H.R. 8.
I was talking earlier tonight about the Heller decision, where
Justice Scalia said the Second Amendment is a preexisting right.
Justice Scalia wrote: ``There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of
both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an
individual right to keep and bear arms.'' He did state ``the right was
not unlimited,'' but the bill being considered goes well beyond
acceptable limitations.
H.R. 8 is another bill that the majority is bringing to the floor
this session without a hearing or markup in the Judiciary Committee.
Last Congress, the markup of H.R. 8 was cut short when the chairman
of the committee introduced an amendment in the nature of a substitute
right in the middle of the markup after Republicans repeatedly offered
amendments highlighting flaws in the bill. He didn't allow Members
opposed to the amendment to speak or offer amendments. He then called
for the vote on the substitute amendment. This hurried process
demonstrated that Democrats cared more about simply passing a bill than
passing a good bill.
H.R. 8 would not have prevented recent shootings. In Parkland, the
shooter acquired the firearm legally from an FFL after undergoing a
NICS check.
In Sutherland Springs, Texas, the shooter made purchases from an FFL
following a NICS check.
In Las Vegas, the shooter purchased his firearms from an FFL after a
background check.
In Orlando, the shooter purchased his firearms legally from an FFL
following a NICS check.
I can go on, but there are so many more examples that are just the
same because criminals who seek to do harm will get guns, regardless of
the new restrictions imposed by H.R. 8. That is just the nature of
criminals.
I was a prosecutor and a criminal defense attorney. I can tell you,
that is the way criminals are. They violate the law.
With very limited exceptions, H.R. 8 makes it illegal for Americans
to get a gun if a nonlicensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer is
involved. And how will the government know if an illegal transfer
occurs?
Eventually, the government will have to create a registry of all
firearms and firearm owners so that they can track all transfers. That
is what they want to do here. Without a registry, this bill is utterly
unenforceable.
I have heard supporters of this bill say that other countries have
similar restrictions, so we need to do the same as well. But the
reality is, there is no other country on the face of this planet that
has a Second Amendment, where the Founders of that country said the
right to bear arms and protect yourself against government and
individuals is a God-given right and deserves to be protected. It is,
as Justice Scalia said, a preexisting right.
Supporters say that this bill is about saving lives. If that is what
is important, then I would encourage every supporter of this bill to
join me in cosponsoring the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection
Act, which actually will save lives. I urge Speaker Pelosi to bring
that bill to the floor today.
I oppose this bill. I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for being here tonight, and I
yield back the balance of my time.
____________________