By: Teresa Mull

Survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, representatives from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety, other anti-gun advocates, and Second Amendment supporters testified on gun violence today before the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who was shot by a left-wing activist during practice for a Congressional baseball game in 2017, says Democrats refused to let him give testimony during the “Preventing Gun Violence: A Call to Action” hearing. Here’s what he told Fox News:

“[The Democrats’] answer to gun control is to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. Frankly, they ought to be focusing on punishing the criminals, not trying to take away the rights of law-abiding citizens. It was people with guns who saved my life and so many others that morning, June of 2017. They need to be focusing on how to help more Americans … have more freedom. And again, their approach is more of a Socialist approach, limiting freedom.

“The top Republican on the committee, Doug Collins, R-Ga., asked committee Democrats if I could testify about this legislation in an appropriate setting to offer another perspective as both a survivor of a shooting attack and strong supporter of our Second Amendment rights. But the Democrats said no. While liberals may try to silence conservative voices, I will not be silenced. The American people deserve to hear all perspectives.”

(Scalise’s submitted written statement is reprinted at the end of this article.)

Meeting Recap
The Pacific Standard reports of today’s hearing:

“…It was a sympathetic room, to say the least, for Democratic members of the House Committee on the Judiciary, which hosted the hearing. The Democrats there argued for H.R. 8: the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, a newly introduced bill that would require unlicensed firearms sellers to run would-be buyers through the same national background check system that licensed gun sellers now must use.

"‘Because background checks are not required for sales by unlicensed gun dealers, guns end up in the hands of dangerous people,’ one of the committee members, Rep. Henry Johnson (D) of Georgia, said. ‘The failure of Congress to pass universal background check legislation has eroded our sense of safety on the streets, in our schools, and even in our places of worship.’"

According to The Standard, anti-gun advocates argued in favor of background checks on all gun buyers, a national ban on assault rifles, and the ability to sue gun companies for deaths, among other things.

"I appreciate the efforts of those who want H.R. 8 and many who have signed on, but similar gun control measures would not have prevented Columbine, San Bernardino, Charleston, or other tragedies," said Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA). "You go to the Bureau of Prisons, when they put out their statistics, most criminals—as you well know—do not get their guns from legal sources."

“Republicans invited a sexual assault survivor and gun rights advocate, Savannah Lindquist, who argued a case for a right to self-defense that she says she was denied because of campus gun bans,” The San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Things grew heated when Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) “said expanding background checks for gun sales would do nothing to stop murders committed by people who are in the country illegally,” NWF Daily News reports. “A wall on the southern border would, Gaetz said.”

Manuel Oliver, whose son was killed during the Parkland school shooting last year, “interrupted Gaetz several times during his remarks,” the website reports.

Watch the entire hearing here:

Republican Whip Steve Scalise
House Committee on the Judiciary
February 6, 2019

My name is Steve Scalise. I am the Congressman for Louisiana’s 1st District. I am the Republican Whip. I am also a target of gun violence.

Many of you may be familiar with the events of June 14, 2017. Around 7:00 AM, at the last morning practice before the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity, an Illinois man named James Hodgkinson opened fire on myself and a group of Republican legislators and volunteers on an Alexandria, Va. baseball field.

Fortunately, as a member of House leadership, I was accompanied by my Capitol Police security detail who were able to return fire and engage the shooter until additional law enforcement officers arrived and ultimately took down the shooter. I was shot and nearly fatally wounded, and both of my detail agents were shot as well. I am alive today thanks to the bravery of U.S. Capitol Police and the Alexandria Police, heroes like Congressman Brad Wenstrup and the first responders who rushed to the scene, the incredible medical team at Washington MedStar Hospital Center, and most importantly the grace of God.

I applaud the intentions behind this hearing and believe we are all pursuing the same goal of reducing gun violence. As someone who experienced gun violence, I do not want anyone else to go through that trauma. However, it is also important to me that we be honest with ourselves and the American people about what will — or won’t — actually prevent these tragedies. The shooter who targeted me that morning was armed with an SKS rifle and a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun, both of which were purchased in compliance with Illinois gun laws.

The new gun control restrictions currently being considered by the Democratic majority in H.R. 8 would not have prevented my shooting.

In fact, these new gun control measures being proposed in H.R. 8 would not have prevented any number of recent mass violence events. Several perpetrators of recent multi-victim shootings also purchased their guns legally. In some instances, the background check system failed, and lack of intervention from law enforcement failed to intercept potential threats.

I want to stress that the man who shot me was issued a permit to purchase firearms by the state of Illinois, and had acquired them legally. At Virginia Tech, Charleston, and Sutherland Springs failures in the background check system allowed individuals to illegally obtain the firearms they used to commit their crimes. The alleged loopholes that H.R. 8 claims to fix would not have prevented these tragedies either.

Instead, whether intentionally or not, the gun control proposals in H.R. 8 could turn law abiding citizens into criminals while also failing to achieve the stated purpose of reducing gun violence.

A recent study by the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis and Johns Hopkins University into California’s effort to implement “comprehensive background checks” found that, “The simultaneous implementation of [the Comprehensive Background Check policy] and [prohibitions on firearm purchase and possession for persons convicted within the past 10 years of certain violent crimes classified as misdemeanors] was not associated with a net change in the firearm homicide rate over the ensuing 10 years in California.” Even though California implemented more stringent background checks, this study shows that these measures did not reduce gun violence.

In fact, most criminals obtain firearms through unlawful means — whether through theft, straw purchases, or lying on the required paperwork. A DOJ study of federal inmates found that only seven percent who possessed a firearm while committing the crime they were serving time for purchased it legally from a firearms dealer under their own name. Based on similar gun control measures in states like California, H.R. 8 would not deter a criminal from engaging in criminal activity, and it won’t decrease gun crime. Instead, it only succeeds in limiting the ways that law-abiding citizens could exercise their Second Amendment rights.

Every single month in America, law-abiding citizens with concealed carry permits defend themselves and others against criminals who have guns. For example, on January 8th, a man approached a 25-year-old woman in Chicago, displayed a weapon, and attempted to rob her at a bus stop. The woman had a concealed carry permit. She drew her own weapon and fired a shot, killing the armed robber. The owner of a nearby pharmacy said such violence happens “all over” Chicago. However, in this case, the intended victim was able to defend herself with her own gun.

On January 2nd, a Good Samaritan in California with a concealed carry permit used his firearm to stop an attempted stabbing of a security guard and held the perpetrator until law enforcement could arrive at the scene.

On January 17th, a man at an IHOP in Alabama opened fire on employees, killing one before another employee pulled his handgun and killed the shooter in self-defense.
On January 29th, an armed robber held up a Family Dollar Store in Georgia. A customer was able to use a personal firearm to shoot and kill the robber before the criminal could hurt any of the many employees or customers in the store.
These are just some examples from the last month alone. There are hundreds of stories like these every single year from law-abiding Americans all over the country.

I am alive due to the effective and immediate response of my Capitol Police detail, and the Alexandria Police Department. Most victims of gun violence do not have law enforcement already on the scene to respond to a violent gunman. Instead of making it harder for citizens to defend themselves until law enforcement arrives, Congress should consider legislation like H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, a bill that would help law-abiding citizens have the same tools to defend themselves as a criminal has of trying to inflict harm, regardless of where they travel.
I firmly believe we must never forget, nor minimize, the importance of the Second Amendment to our Constitution.

H.R. 8, as well as other new gun control legislation currently being considered by the House Democrat majority do not accomplish the goal of reducing gun violence.
If our goal is to reduce gun violence, then we should focus on penalizing criminals,
not law-abiding citizens.

Photo Credit: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America – Steve Scalise, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60057419

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].