Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) has introduced a gun control bill that should draw criticism and sneers

When are the Dems going to have a come to Jesus moment and realize they have gone too far? Not soon enough. I have been a Second Amendment Advocate since long before I ever owned and used my first gun. Whether for sport, hunting, collecting or personal protection, the right to bear arms is granted explicitly in our Constitution. The fact that our Founders made it the Second Amendment shows how important they felt the right was and is. They also felt it was important to protect ourselves from an out of control government. Those wise individuals must have envisioned Rep. Lee in Congress some day. This proposed bill shows how totally out of control they are and how much control over us the want. I cannot believe she hails from the great state of Texas with this thinking.

H.R.127 states that its purpose is to “provide for the licensing of firearm and ammunition possession and the registration of firearms, and to prohibit the possession of certain ammunition.” It aims to do so much more.

The bill calls for the U.S. Attorney General to establish a licensing and registration system through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which would increase the federal government’s ability to monitor gun owners’ purchases and the location of their firearms by requiring them to inform the government of the “make, model, and serial number” of the firearms that they own and adds that the firearm owner must tell the government “where the firearm is or will be stored.” In order to obtain a license, individuals must also complete “at least 24 hours of training.” Individuals can be stripped of their license and must get their licenses renewed. The bill goes on to state that the info collected will be provided to every level of Law Enforcement, from local to Federal, and also all branches of our Military

In order to obtain a license to possess a firearm, an individual would need to be at least 21 years old and, in addition to undergoing a background check, would require that the individual undergo “a psychological evaluation” which could potentially involve “other members of the household in which the individual resides.” Under the bill, a person could have their constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms stripped from them if they’ve been hospitalized with a wide range of psychiatric disorders, including depression. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, there were approximately 17 millions Americans who suffered a major depressive episode in 2017. If any of those folks are gun owners, they would be required to surrender their guns and license.

The bill also bans ammunition that is .50 caliber or larger and bans people from being able to possess magazines that are able to hold greater than 10 rounds of ammunition. The bill also forces people to pay an $800 fee to the government that insures them “against liability for losses and damages resulting from the use of any firearm by the person during the 1-year period that begins with the date the policy is issued.”

Lee has been criticized in the past for demonstrating a lack of understanding of firearms, saying in September 2019: “I’ve held an AR-15 in my hand, I wish I hadn’t. It is as heavy as 10 boxes that you might be moving. And the bullet that is utilized, a .50 caliber, these kinds of bullets need to be licensed and do not need to be on the street.”

AR-15s typically weigh on the high-end around 10 or 11 pounds but can be as light as 5.5-6.5 on the low-end. They do not fire a .50 caliber round, rather, they fire a significantly smaller .223 caliber round.

This Bill could pass in the current Trifecta control of Congress and the White House. Our only hope then would be an injunction and a suit filed in the Supreme Court. It should not come to that. Common sense should prevail but currently in Washington, we have a remarkable drought of common sense.