LaMalfa introduces amendment protecting Second Amendment rights
Congressman Doug LaMalfa announced that he has submitted amendments to House Democrats’ gun control bill, H.R. 1446, that would expand Second Amendment protections rather than restrict them. The Democrats’ bill as currently written lengthens the amount of time background checks can take, meaning citizens could face long delays to purchase firearms.
Under LaMalfa’s amendment, the bill instead allows any American to buy firearms, ammunition and other accessories in any state, territory or district in the country. Current federal law only allows purchases of firearms in one’s state of principal residence.
Further, the LaMalfa amendment allows Americans to take any legally purchased firearm to any other state and it will be legal in that state. These reforms ensure that like other rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment provides uniform protection across the country while also protecting the 10th Amendment.
“For too long the Second Amendment has been treated like a second class right,” LaMalfa said. “Our right to free speech, freedom of religion, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure or the right to a jury trial by our peers doesn’t depend on what state, territory or district we may happen to be standing in, yet our Second Amendment rights are largely subject to the whims of the state where you reside. My goal is to let any American legally buy any firearm that is legal in the state they may be hunting in, sport shooting in or just visiting and exercising their right in.
“Once legally owned, that gun should be legal in every other state. I want to restore this freedom back to the American people.”
LaMalfa’s amendment was heard in the House Rules Committee Monday morning.
