Question of the Day: Will Republicans Repeal Federal Gun Control?

1. I doubt it. They like to push that stuff on the campaign trail, but I doubt there is enough collective moxie in their offices to really do anything along that line… They will chip at the edges just enough to say “we are pro-2A”. but most of them are useless.

   • 1 – I don’t the GOP members of Congress have the balls to repeal the NFA. Hell, they ghaven’t even voted to repeal Obamacare and that was one of their big campaign promises, They’re gutless cowards who liisten to their big money donors, not the American people.
     2 – Isn’t funny that every time a Democrat ‘evolves’, they make a hard turn to the left?

     • I always thought “Democrat evolution” was what you got when the bowl of month-old moldy leftovers in the back of your fridge suddenly squeaks out, “Vote for Hillary! Ban assault weapons! Redistribute the wealth!”…

     • Phil Graham evolved to the right. So did Zell Miller.

   • You’re from Illinois and what to evaluate Senators???

     • Yup. From Illinois, and want to evaluate senators. Can you believe that? /sarc

       I also live in Illinois, and agree that they are mostly liars and cowards.

       I know Neiowa will struggle with the idea, but not everyone in Illinois (or even Chicago!) is exactly the same.

2. If they don’t, they will get primaried. At this point I will vote for almost any dem over a politician that does not keep promises.

   • Unless you live in one of the 20 or 30 districts that are actually contested, your vote doesn’t really matter, except for your conscience.

   • ……but you repeat yourself, sir.

   • Vhyrus, youre in luck!! Your non-republican, democrat controlled wonderland already exists! Its out here on the sunny left coast of america and it happens to be looking for more tax paying democrat voters who dont like republicans!

3. You cannot trust any of them.
   That’s why we need two important changes to the law:
   Two term limit on all Federal elective positions, retroactive.
   No pensions or healthcare benefits for any Federal elected officials, retroactive.

4. At best we will be “thrown a bone” and given national reciprocity and the HPA. I am still highly suspicious of even getting national reciprocity; I’m sure Democrats and Liberals will magically rediscover states’ rights on that issue. As far as repealing the NFA, fat chance. We can’t forget that Republican doesn’t mean truly pro-gun, which, look at what a misnomer pro-gun can be (Fudd anyone?). Think about the various types of Republicans there are too.

   I think even reciprocity and HPA are only being considered due to this “populist” wave that Trump rode into office. Once things settle down, for a lot of Congressman, things will return to business as usual. I hope I am wrong about this, but I am not a liberal that operates on pure emotion. And the rational, logical side of me says that HPA and NR aren’t even in the bag despite their obvious popularity. So how do you think a repeal of the NFA would go? Now it could be that we are taking baby steps, and NFA repeal is the next, or eventual, step. Or HPA and NR will be passed and the Republicans will pat themselves on the back for a job well-done on extending their career a few more years and be over it, and most of us POTG will rest on our laurels and the clamor for NFA repeal will die out. But from what I know about people in general and politicians specifically, things will slow down and NFA repeal will be a pipe dream.

   • Hillary’s Australian Style Gun Control cost her the election.
     I don’t think reciprocity or the HPA matter much except to the posters on these various gun sites.
     Be happy you aren’t getting ready to turn in or bury all of your semi-auto, military-looking and pump weapons.

     • Or….maybe some people should be happy that millions of gun owners aren’t getting ready to refuse either to turn in or to bury all of their semi-auto, military-looking and pump weapons?

       “Nobody is coming for your guns” sounds a lot like “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”

     • I’m happy Hillary didn’t win and isn’t currently in office pushing confiscation. Am I content with the status quo? No.

       I won’t be content until we only have reasonable gun laws like don’t murder people with guns. I will be happy with every victory, but not content.

   • +1

     I could not have said it better myself.

   • Republicans “throwing a bone” to their constituents is the reason Trump was elected in the first place; to even imply this political climate is anything like the previous ones in recent history is absurd. American politics are going through a substantial, era-defining change right now and a change in politics is a change in laws.

     If you want to talk about reason vs emotion then you should be reminded that many “impossible” things were made possible in 2016, and we are now in a better position than ever to reclaim our rights. Your degree of pessimism is not rational.

     • I’m not saying that our political climate is the way it was last year. I am saying that, with few exceptions, politicians act on “the times” and say what is most politically expedient and acceptable at that time, with little intention of follow through. Maybe all the changes, reforms and campaign promises that Trump has espoused will lead to a seismic shift in the political landscape. Maybe, not definitely will or definitely will not.

       Like Bosko said above, HPA and NR really only matter to POTG and not necessarily Republicans as a whole. And don’t forget, it wasn’t just Republicans who voted for Trump, but a mixed bag of people all with different political agendas, some pro-gun, some not so much. How long can we expect them to really remain united? I ask this rhetorically, not doubtfully. Since there are no term limits, these career politicians only have to outlast Trump for 8 years, max. Meaning if they can stay more or less on the fence, they will. Think about it, when was the last time you heard a “pro-gun” politician say much more other than “I support the 2A” or really expand on that notion, because like I said previously, pro-gun can mean a lot of things.

       Don’t confuse being realistic with being pessimistic. Hell, I voted for Trump and hope that he is able to accomplish just about all that he has said he will. But political winds change in this country. How many Republican congressmen, right now, would be rid of Trump for a more establishment Republican? Come next election time, don’t you at least entertain the notion of a divided party, with a Trump camp and an establishment camp? With LibDem vultures waiting for that fracture. Democrats aren’t defeated and the battle isn’t won. And they and their constituencies, interests and organizations will fight everything Trump attempts, especially in the area of guns. How much have our pro-gun interests and politicians been compromising the last several decades? I would say a great deal, and while I hope they discontinue this practice, history says otherwise.

       I don’t think I am saying anything irrational, in fact I feel no emotion typing what I am typing. If anything you are running on an optimistic high, which is great, I certainly am more optimistic about our country now that Trump is elected. But this hasn’t given “us” carte blanche to pass any legislation we want, especially with as polarizing figure as Trump at the helm. I say go for full repeal of the NFA, maybe it will work. But it will be met with massive resistance, and what will our typical R congressmen do?

     • Meh. I’ve been around long enough to have heard “[Such and such] changed everything” and “It’s all different now” many times before.

       I’ve never been impressed by what followed. We’ll see how it plays out, but for now, I’m sporting a McKayla Maroney meme over here.

   • There will be no gun friendly laws from this senate.

     • There will be no Republican friendly laws from this Senate. McConnell will block the ones the Dems can’t.

5. Not at all, but this is a case of zero being infinitely greater than the zero trust in liberal_progressive_communist_gloalist_RINO [&] POS (D).

6. They won’t get a full repeal through with only 52 senators, but there’s ways to skin the cat. They can convert the current system to tax-at-point of transfer with NICs as the background check. No more registry. No more wait times. We’d still be paying the tax, but it would make a filibuster harder.

   • Didn’t you read the NFA congressional transcripts that were posted here a bit ago? They were very insistent on it being a tax.

     Anything created as a tax can be destroyed as a tax (via reconciliation).

   • I could deal with that. But $200 is 25% the cost of a suppressor ish. They could probably also reduce that tax amount as tax stuff only needs a simple majority.

     • You mean 10X the cost of a disposable suppressor, right? 1200$ titanium monocore silencers are as much a market aberration as 16,000$ M16’s, but after so much tax and a long wait, customers expect a bit more than a simple PVC tube with some washers glued in.

   • Supermajority is NOT part of the Constitution and is relatively new BS. Read last issue of Imprimis for more. Fix the Senate rules

7. I trust NO politician from ANY party as they have long demonstrated that they will promise ANYTHING which will get them elected and then re-elected.

8. There has only been one politician I trusted and Ron Paul isn’t a politician any longer. I somewhat trust his son Rand Paul. They are the only men of their word in politics. Sorry there ain’t no woman in politics I trust or….

   • I have the great honor of having voted for Tom Cotton, whom I believe is the best thing in the senate.

   • Suuuure. And Ross Perot also

     • What?

       If the question is about ‘trust’ then the Pauls are the closest I can get to it. Which is why they’ll never get any further in politics and I’m amazed they got where they are.

9. When it comes to gun rights, do you trust Republican politicians in general, or any in specific, at all?

   No.
   Fuck no.
   and …
   Shit-fucking no.

   • You gotta quit beating around the bush and just say what you mean.
     ?

10. 1. Watching that youtube clip was sickening. Do yourself a favor and don’t watch it. Just open it up, down vote it, and close it immediately.
    2. I don’t trust Republicans at all. As a party, they will never support our rights. They’ll drag us out and throw us a bone every decade to ensure that we keep voting for them but in the long run they will never push for federal preemption laws, never roll back the NFA, and never sacrifice their own political power over restoration of individual rights.

11. At this point, any politician that says they are Pro 2A really means they won’t pass MORE gun control.

    In the same way the gun control crowd insists they are compromising by still letting you keep some small piece of what you already had, the pro-gun side thinks you are “winning” just by keeping what you already have.

12. “Senator Gillibrand is now a member of the minority party in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.”

    Um, I know I’m a pain in the ass, but wouldn’t Senator Gillibrand be a member of the Senate?

    And, yeah, I agree with those who say the Republicans will throw us a bone, at most.

    • I also notice that sentence, which makes no sense at all. There are no Senators in the House of Representatives.

13. I think the best route to NFA repeal is to find someone to introduce it and force Republicans to anwser on their support in the 2018 primaries.

    On that subject: Received a solicitation for another donation to Dr. Ward (who is now running against Flake after she barely lost again McCain in the primary thanks to an endorsement Trump regrets). Took this as an opportunity to email and ask confirm if her (Campaign manger’s) promise to introduce NFA repeal federally still stands. Confirmed it did (she introduced legislation to repeal state level stuff mirroring it so I believe her. Also knocking out Flake would be good anyways). Going to send her some money when I get paid next week.

    Wasn’t picked to ask a question on Congressman DeSantis’s phone thing, but he has an in-person event in April I’ll attend.

    Still trying to get back to Rubio’s office on if he has taken any action on the proposal.

14. I trust Congress, at this point, to do things that make themselves look good, Trump bad, or preferably both at the same time.

    Congress is controlled by the Republican party. Trump ran on a Republican ticket, but he isn’t “of” them, and they hate him for it.

15. The quickest way for future generations of Americans to lose their gun rights is unchecked immigration policies and a porous border.

    Republicans better work on those things first, because literally nothing else matters. Repeal the 1965 immigration act, and repatriate all those here illegally.

    Then go ahead and work on gun control. There is literally no other path forward.

16. I don’t know if it’s my phone or this website, but while I’m trying to type a comment, the keyboard keeps cutting out without warning and I’m automatically either taken off the page, or flat-out taken to a porn site. wtf.

    • Windows phone by any chance?

      Perhaps try a different browser? I run Firefox on an Android phone, and with uBlock Origin installed usually have a rather uneventful browsing experience.

      Until I read one of Ralph’s pairs, and then I’m often glad I have a waterproof phone.

      • No, it’s an iPhone. I do get this feed through Newsify, but it didn’t start happening until today. Maybe my phone got hacked.

17. Unless I’ve missed something, we’re still only about 33 days into this Presidency. So far we’ve had multiple executive orders to work on immigration, border security, and refugee/foreign national vetting processes. We’re still trying to get the Cabinet, SCOTUS pick, and other officials vetted through Congress, all the while dealing with the national stage BS, the MSM insanity, and the semi-daily craziness from the White House itself. Did I mention we’re barely a month+ into this thing?

    Y’all- RELAX. You’re carrying on about the 12th round of the fight and we just got started with the 1st. Anybody else remember SchoolHouse Rock and how Bill becomes Law? It takes a minute. Best things we can do- write our Congressional Representatives and Senators; write our State and Federal officials; express our desires as often and publicly as possible to those in power; and do not jump to conclusions. Be patient. It’ll all work out. Have a little faith.

18. Most Republican politicians are pro-2A only because their Democrat opponents are anti-gun. They can make a lot of noise about the 2A, and throw us a small bone now and again, but they don’t really have to do anything major, because they know we won’t vote for the Dems either way. They’re pretty much the only game in town if you’re a strongly pro-2A voter, and they know it.

19. Now that we have the political opportunity (Oval Office + both chambers of Congress) we have to think pragmatically. We need to push 2 kinds of agenda-items:
    1. “low-hanging” and “light-lifting” fruit (e.g., HPA)
    2. measures that will promote 2A rights in blue States (e.g., N-R).
    We must AVOID at ALL COSTS wasting our political capital TODAY on things that fit neither of these categories. E.g., we are entitled to unlimited self-righteousness to call for repeal of the Hughes amendment; but that would be heavy lifting to enable us all to own toys we wouldn’t afford to shoot.

    We can, and must, warn our legislators that the next election is 20 short months from today. Why should we re-elect “you” as an individual member of Congress if you won’t promote 2A rights in the blue States that threaten our liberty in the long run? Why should be re-elect “you” if you can’t even muster the courage to pass a common-sense health and quality-of-life bill such as HPA?

    We don’t “need” “you” – an individual – in Congress. We will primary “you”; we will vote for your Democrat opponent if necessary. Your chamber (senate or house) will still remain in Republican hands. But, even if the Democrats take the majority in your chamber, we don’t care. We, the PotG, do not “owe” “you” or the GOP. You owe US.

    You have 20 months. Don’t waste this time. If you fail to pass these 2 (or few) bills then don’t plan on being re-elected.

    When each member of Congress up for re-election feels the heat then s/he will urge the leadership to work on our 2A agenda. Especially so if Congress makes only slow progress on other important issues (ObamaCare, Immigration, Defense). The leadership ought to want to bring-home some relatively easy and cheap bacon to remain in office.

20. I trust Rand Paul.

    Republican voters have an endless credulity when it comes to hopes for the future. For example, no HPA or reciprocity will be forthcoming but that won’t stop them from voting Republican. And who can blame them considering the alternative?

21. Meh…I expect little. Whatever- I bought a gun today?

    • Don’t tease, whaddya get?

22. I got as far as New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand…

23. The dems will oppose any pro-gun measures.

    The republicans will then let it die (while protesting too miuch)- because they would rather be able to use gun owners again in the next election, and the best way to do that is to let them stay pissed off. Sure, there will be a couple primary challenges, but that’s okay. The GOP will still be able to say “hey, if you vote a few more of us into office we’ll finally have 60 senators and can do what we want (at which point something else will come up)”

    The GOP would rather worry about making sure the banks can create another bubble and cable companies can gouge customers to no limit than actually protect Constitutional rights.That’s what they’ll challenge the dems on.

24. ” do you trust Republican politicians in general, or any in specific, at all? ”
    Easy one. NO! “never trust a woman or a government” -Graham Chapman as Yellowbeard

25. As long as the filibuster exists the answer is no. That you even ask the question indicates a lack of understanding of the legislative process. For those of you who say go nuclear ask Chuck Schumer how he feels about doing away minority rights over a niche issue.

26. Answer: no. The GrOPE has had the numbers for far too long now, all they’ve ever done is roll over for the dems. There are very few republicans remaining, all government has shifted left.

    • Maybe you haven’t noticed but the fictional GOPe has been steamrolling the Democrats since January 20th.

      And here we have a prime example of someone who is ignorant of Constitutional and legislative processes. It takes 60 votes to bring a bill to a vote in the Senate. The Republicans have only 52. Even with 100% support in the Republican caucus the leadership can’t bring a bill to a vote.

      • Amazing how many here just want to insult others. Don’t be a dick.

        • So pointing out that you don’t understand how the Constitution and legislative procedure is being a dick.

      • Pointing out facts does not make you a dick. The fact that you feel the need to insult a person while you are pointing out those facts does.

27. Nope. There are too many special interests at play to allow plebs like us to carry.

    I certainly hope I’m wrong. But with full control of 2/3 branches of government, the Republicans could certainly move faster on giving back our gun rights. I’m certainly banking on National Reciprocity because I can’t wait to see all the government officials in NJ get butthurt over commoners being able to defend themselves.

    • Last time we held that kind of advantage over the anti-gun party, George W Bush unilaterally banned the importation of “assault weapon” barrels in parts kits.

      So I wouldn’t hold my breath. Trump at least talks a good game, which is the most we’ve gotten since at least JFK or thereabouts. FOPA doesn’t count in my opinion, because it just traded really bad precedent that would be struck down in any reasonable court regarding transport for really bad precedent that would be struck down in any reasonable court regarding prohibitive classification & taxation of firearms. Not a net win in my mind as so many see it.

28. Gun owners are the worst kind of Stockholm Syndromed battered wives around.

    Ask yourself if you personally think the general public is strongly invested in the gun control issue, or mostly ambivalent. It’s the latter right? We on this site are just a bunch of isolated, rare, Dale Gribble types constituting a tiny minority in this country that actually cares about gun rights –right? No embattled Republican (let alone a Democrat) would *dare* go out on a limb to speak in favor of gun rights, it simply isn’t a safe issue to have a strong opinion of; far better we slowly build our majorities until they are unstoppable –right?

    -We got the House
    -We got the Senate
    -We got the Presidency (and it seems quite possibly due to pro-gun votes in states with exploding rates of concealed carry)
    -We have a likely if not inevitable period of conservative Supreme Court majority for the next decade
    -We have the great majority of governors, and state houses
    -We have strong, clear, court precedent in favor of reducing gun control to much lower levels, both past and recent
    -Gun issues dominated the top three or four suggested question topics for at least a couple of the presidential debates months back
    -Gun issues dominate the ‘most viewed’ legislative pages on Congress’ public info site, even though none make it to the floor (interest in HPA in particular dwarfs everything else)
    -Gun rights are progressing at an extraordinarily rapid pace across the nation despite zero leadership at the federal level, rivaling even the recent gay rights victories that themselves had huge federal and media support (both of which gun rights lack)
    -Congress has plenty of precedent and legal standing to pass laws settling many of the issues we suffer, from purchase permitting, registration, carry permitting, gun free zones, safe storage/theft reporting, punitive taxation/insurance, unlawful search & seizure, unlawful suspicion by authorities, conspiracy to commit harassment by authorities, expensive & burdensome shipping & licensing rules, arbitrary regulations poorly written and capriciously enforced, and even assault weapon/magazine bans

    There is no excuse for them to not move on THIS ISSUE at THIS MOMENT. The only reason this kind of overwhelming pressure, legal authority, and even inevitability hasn’t yielded results already is because the Republican party takes gun owners so utterly for granted. And why shouldn’t they? So nothing gets done, and they continue to agitate for moralist nonsense, or economic reform, or foreign adventure, or repealing Obamacare –all important issues, perhaps moreso than guns in the long term, but none with the kind of support and realistic odds of success seen by gun issues.

    • And yet, you and I both know, we’re going to get screwed.

29. To pass pro-gun laws, the Republicans will need 60 votes, and they don’t have them. Believe it or not, some Democrats would support pro-gun legislation, but not enough to invoke cloture.

    If the Republicans had 60 votes, they still couldn’t repeal the NFA.

30. No government wants to have an armed populace that has weapons for the primary purpose of deposing a government.

    Repubs will do nothing more for gun rights than dems.

    Campaign issue and nothing more, sorry guys.

31. Why do we have a 2nd Amendment? Because the Founders said not to trust politicians to protect your rights.

    I hope Trump does a good job. It’s refreshing to see someone in office who is not your usual politician. Yeah, he’s rich so he doesn’t know what it’s like to live down at the bottom of the ladder. Still, for all his faults and lack of political experience, I feel a whole lot better with him picking the best people (even if it’s in “his” opinion) to fill positions rather than the payola types of the progressive Dems. With him going “rogue” we have a far better chance of returning to the Constitution and the ideals which created this country as the greatest on the planet.

    How far that will get us with regard to the 2nd Amendment? Who knows. Even a little bit is a heck of a lot more than Hillary and her mobsters would give us.

32. Ain’t a snowball’s chance in hell the gop demoncraps will repeal any gun laws, let alone go back to rescind Miller. A fool’s dream at best.

33. Here is something they have done recently.. Senate Passes Resolution Rolling Back Obama-Era Gun Control Rule On Social Security Recipients.

34. Hmmm, Hillary came out strong in support of Gun Control. I know Dems are having a hard time accepting it, but she lost. A whole bunch of Dems lost at the State level.

    I find it interesting that the former occupant of the White House resorted to Executive Action to enact some Gun Control measures. Was it because he didn’t have the votes to enact the proper legislation? I never thought he got everything he wanted in regard to his Gun Control agenda. No Smart Gun, no “assault weapon” ban,no National registry, and so forth.

    I am convinced that there are/were some Democrats in office who like to hunt, shoot, and are prepared to defend themselves, should the situation arise. Again, the need for the former occupant’s Executive Actions.They wouldn’t vote their own rights away, and couldn’t go on record voting to keep them.

35. Christsakes….. Only on TTAG is this even a top 20 priority. Single issues are nice, but there are more pressing things like office appointments, A budget, healthcare & the tax policy to play with. So stop sniffing the Hoppes 9 guys; come back to reality.

36. The Republicans will not do anything on gun rights until we take away every one of their excuses. Currently, they’re saying that since they don’t have 60 votes to close debate, they can’t do anything because Democrats will oppose and filibuster. You know what? Okay, there are things that need to be done first like re-securing our borders. Fine. Get that done first, then move to gun rights.

    I fully expect that they’ll foot-drag and complain some more and fail to address gun rights until 2018. But at mid-terms in 2018, we need to flip all of the vulnerable Democrat seats and scare the hell out of them by getting a 60-Republican Senate. This has to be the priority.

    If the Republicans get a 60-vote Senate, then all of their excuses are gone and they’ll have to deliver or they’ll be out on their butts.

37. Someone will have to wake them up, first.

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