As prepared for delivery:
Today’s hearing covers a single item, a resolution arising under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ rule that forces millions of law-abiding gun owners, many of them disabled veterans, to dispose of or register their firearms with stabilizing braces.
Stabilizing pistol braces were designed to help disabled veterans shoot firearms that they would otherwise be unable to hold, stabilize, or aim. In 2012, the Obama-era ATF recognized that these devices serve a legitimate function and determined that they should therefore not be subject to onerous regulation. The Biden Administration has reversed over a decade of precedent and usurped Congress’ legislative power in subjecting stabilizing braces to regulation under the National Firearms Act. Owners, many of whom are disabled veterans, must destroy the braces or their weapons, hand them over to the ATF, or submit to a lengthy and expensive registration process with no certainty of success. It is clear from this latest action that the Biden Administration is intent on eroding the Second Amendment and the constitutionally protected rights of law-abiding Americans.
I strongly believe the government should protect, rather than restrict, our rights under the Second Amendment. We should be supporting freedom and personal responsibility, and the House should ensure that our constitutional rights are protected – all of them. That is why I am proud to have joined every member of the Oklahoma delegation in co-sponsoring H.J. Res. 44. Indeed, my constituents in southwest Oklahoma expect nothing less.
I urge all members of the House to join me in supporting this resolution, ensuring that the Second Amendment rights of responsible gun owners are protected.
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