WHEN A LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC majority took control of Congress and the notoriously anti-gun Obama administration was seated in the Executive Branch in January 2009, pro-firearms groups were understandably nervous that Washington would start rolling back Americans’ Second Amendment rights. But with only a few months remaining in the 111th Congress, it’s looking increasingly likely that this is not going to happen.
In fact, according to a new report, the situation is so good that some anti-gun legislators are whining that they cannot even initiate a hearing to talk about gun control, let alone shepherd a bill to the floor for a vote.
Early in the first session of the 111th Congress, AFP reported in the April 13, 2009, edition that a search of the legislative docket in Congress revealed that nearly 40 bills had been introduced in the House and the Senate—some bad, some worse—that related to guns. In a flurry of activity, just about every type of firearms bill was introduced. Gun registration legislation (H.R. 45) was sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush (DIll.).
Even military veterans would be called upon to come forward and register their weapons under the Veterans’ Heritage Firearms Act of 2009 (H.R. 442), sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mt.). Here’s the good news: Not one of these bills passed Congress to make its way to the White House for the president’s signature. In fact, all of the bills that AFP wrote about in the early days either died in committee or were shot down by Republicans and Democrats.
