With former President Donald Trump winning the recent election and Republicans retaining the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and regaining the majority in the U.S. Senate, Democrats are desperate to pass whatever gun-control measures they can before January.
That desperation has prompted the pro-freedom group Gun Owners of America to send an alert to its members warning them of the possibility of such anti-gun shenanigans.
“The time between the November elections and the swearing in of new members of Congress and our next President is known as the ‘lame-duck’ session,” GOA Senior Vice President Erich Pratt wrote in the alert, headlined, “Tell Congress Not to Pass Gun Control During the Lame Duck Session.” “It’s during this period that Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer can try and ram through any last-minute gun control packages before the door hits them on the way out.”
As Pratt pointed out in the alert, when President Barack Obama left the White House, gun owners had to fight to repeal numerous executive orders imposing gun control that he signed on his way out—including a gun ban for Social Security beneficiaries and a lead ammunition ban. And just last week, Senate Democrats held a gun control hearing to push more restrictions before Republicans take over in January.
This poses a danger during the lame-duck session, but it should be alleviated in January when Republicans control both houses of Congress and the presidency.
“With multiple pieces of legislation on the horizon—including an authorization of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and an omnibus spending bill—there will be plenty of opportunities for anti-gunners to try and sneak in gun control measures like ‘assault weapons’ bans or Universal Registration Checks,” Pratt wrote in the alert. “In the past, anti-gunners have attempted to hide Red Flag Gun Confiscation Laws and other gun control measures in the National Defense Authorization Act. But GOA exposed it—and thanks to advocacy from our members like you, we defeated it.”
Efforts are being made to move the funding debate to January. But at this point, the result of those efforts is still uncertain.
“Speaker Mike Johnson—who helped GOA force Joe Biden to sign the veterans gun ban repeal and a historic ATF budget cut—is fighting to push the funding debate out of the lame duck and into the next Congress,” Pratt wrote. “This means that instead of Joe Biden and the Democrats in the Senate determining the FY 2025 spending levels, a Second Amendment-friendly White House, House and Senate can write the bill instead.”
As Pratt pointed out, if it’s GOA allies writing the bill, America’s lawful gun owners have a chance to avoid gun control and permanently eliminate the veteran gun ban.
“We might also be able to defund the ATF, destroy the illegal gun registry and more!” Pratt wrote. “It won’t be easy to prevent gun control in the lame duck, but it is possible with your help.”
In the end, GOA asked members to send a letter to their Representative and Senators telling them to oppose all gun control measures during the lame-duck session.
“When legislators get an earful from their constituents back home telling them to keep their hands off our Second Amendment rights, they fall in line,” Pratt concluded. “And after the Silent Majority made our voices heard in the November landslide election, the Washington Swamp knows that they better listen to the American people.”
