Paul, Cruz, Lee ready filibuster on gun control
Cocked and loaded!
HumanEvents: Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Tuesday that has been widely interpreted as a threat to filibuster gun control legislation, although they evidently don’t use that word.
This sets the stage for another conflict between the young rising stars of the GOP and the old guard, led by Senator John McCain, who the Washington Times describes as a “key player” in the upcoming gun control vote… and he’s playing for Team Reid. McCain has been holding closed-door negotiations that lead some conservatives to see a “concession on the horizon,” at least on the matter of expanded background checks for gun purchases. It doesn’t seem like he would be likely to support a filibuster. If it happens, he’ll find a lot of cameras and microphones pointed at him, hoping to catch another “wacko birds” sound bite critical of the young Republican upstarts.
In addition to McCain, Reid can also count New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg as a partner in his gun control push, since Bloomberg just launched a $12 million ad campaign designed to pressure senators from at least 10 states to support the legislation Reid will bring to the floor. Bloomberg’s ads tell wavering senators that gun owners strongly support expanded background checks. His organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is also big on citing the fraudulent statistic that 40 percent of gun sales in the United States currently escape background checks. (The actual figure is closer to 5 or 10 percent; the cooked “40 percent” number is based on a tiny Clinton-era survey that counted inheritances and gifts between family members as “sales.”)
The gun-control lobby simply cannot walk away from post-Newtown hysteria empty-handed, so something is going to pass. A talking filibuster would give Paul, Lee, Cruz, and anyone who stands up to join them a chance to make the case for gun rights before a final package is assembled. They will want to make the best of that opportunity.
Time to wake up if you haven't already, folks, The seizure of healthcare and the prohibition of guns have been among the first steps to tyranny throughout world history. Don't put anything past an overreaching government.
“The Democrats’ proposed legislation would require universal background checks for private sales between law-abiding citizens, which according to DOJ would be effective only if accompanied by a national gun registry. This raises serious constitutional issues, and would divert resources from prosecuting felons and fugitives who try to illegally purchase guns.” ~ Ted Cruz
