New gun control was passed this week. Fifteen Republicans teamed up with the Democrats to push through the new gun bill as no one had time to even read the legislation because it was “assembled in secret,” Senator Rand Paul noted.
“Unfortunately, this legislation was assembled as many are — in secret, absent well-placed leaks to journalists,” Paul tweeted, adding “There doesn’t appear to be a willingness or time provided to read, understand, debate or amend this bill.”
I will try anyway. To this end, I will introduce amendments to correct the constitutional deficiencies of this bill and hope my colleagues and the Senate leadership will do the same.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
The Senate had voted 64-34 Tuesday night to push through the bill.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?521273-10/senator-paul-gun-bill
Paul has vowed to try and introduce amendments to the bill to “correct the constitutional deficiencies.”
We need to ask ourselves this question: How can any elected official justify deciding on legislation without reading it or debating it?
Paul noted “They didn’t even give us the actual bill to vote on it. They gave us a blank piece of paper and said, ‘Vote on this and trust us as to what the legislation will be when it comes forward and trust that there’ll be an actual amendment process.’”
The ‘red flag laws’, are designed for law enforcement to remove firearms from a person who they believe may be a danger to themselves or others. Unfortunately this also gives the government the right to come take anybody’s guns with no real evidence that they are even a threat.
Rand said “These are called ex-parte hearings where a judge hears an accusation. In some states, the accusation is actually from an anonymous source. So under no condition would I think that your second amendment rights should be taken away with an accusation by an anonymous person.”
The Senator added, “I could be persuaded to vote for some aspects of this bill, but you’d have to have an amendment process to try to cure the constitutional deficiencies.”
He continued, “I don’t think you can take guns away without letting someone have a lawyer and without letting someone actually be accused of a crime in court in public. You have to be notified of what you’re being accused of. You can’t just have your gun rights taken away without even having a lawyer present.”
No one wants to see guns in the hands of criminals, and no one wants to see tragedies like we saw recently in Texas. I’m both a law-abiding gun owner, and a parent, and I want our schools and kids safe.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
Looking at the recent criminal past of anyone is a good idea before assessing gun ownership. However, that idea was paired with many questionable or bad ones in this legislation.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
I cannot support any legislation that funds or encourages laws that allow ex parte gun confiscation without legal representation, or even sometimes without prior notification to the defendant of any accusation at all. https://t.co/UbIlIWz1yU
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
I cannot support legislation that funds or encourages gun confiscation predicated on anonymous accusations. https://t.co/3KH4vzPQTO
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
In fact, we should be doing the opposite, encouraging schools to train and arm proper personnel as desired and needed in their schools. https://t.co/beWQATe1mN
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) June 22, 2022
