Friends and neighbors,
On April 18, the Senate Finance Committee debated two highly contentious gun control bills that seek to introduce new penalties and restrictions on gun ownership.
These proposals largely target law-abiding gun owners rather than addressing the real issue of crimes committed with firearms.
Senate File 4312 proposes rigorous standards for the safe storage of firearms, potentially criminalizing standard practices and making it difficult for responsible gun owners to comply. Rather than accomplishing a very reasonable goal of gun safety, the bill seems more about penalizing good citizens than cracking down on criminals – especially frustrating when our existing laws are not being enforced effectively.
Senate File 5153 aims to redefine legal gun components as criminal, without clear guidance or compensation for gun owners who would be affected. Unfounded restrictions like these undermine our Second Amendment rights and place a burden on law-abiding citizens without any real public safety benefit.
Look, I get it. Everyone across the political spectrum wants to prevent gun violence. But what Democrats are proposing will not achieve their goals because they are focused in the wrong place. Bad guys will always do bad things. We should be concentrating on stopping the bad guys, not targeting the vast majority of gun owners who do not break the law.
Instead of adding unnecessary new laws that burden responsible, law-abiding citizens, we should be enforcing the laws we have and focusing on the actual criminals.
Sincerely,