Press Release: Congressman Fulcher Takes Additional Actions to Protect the Second Amendment

The following Press Release was sent out by Congressman Russ Fulcher’s office on July 7:

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Congressman Russ Fulcher has continued his efforts to defend Idahoan’s Second Amendment rights with several legislative actions. These include becoming an original cosponsor on H.R. 3820, the Firearm Due Process Protection Act, H.R. 3823, the Protecting Individual Sovereignty Through Our Laws Act (PISTOL Act), and sending a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Marvin Richardson opposing the recent rule against “stabilizing braces.”

“President Biden’s gun policies will add red tape and penalties to law-abiding Americans who respect the rule of law. This is unconstitutional and an infringement to every American’s right to defend themselves,” said Congressman Fulcher.

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In a 2018 Operation Report from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), 26 million background checks were conducted with 99,000 of those transactions being denied and 28,000 appeals for wrongful denial.

The Firearm Due Process Protection Act, H.R. 3820,cosponsored by Congressman Fulcher, addresses this bureaucratic failure by providing gun owners with the ability to seek a court judgement in order to ensure the right to own a firearm is protected when wrongfully denied by the federal government. The bill also requires the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) to give an answer within 60 days, and grants thousands of unjustly denied citizens a court appeal process when administrative errors are made during background checks at NICS. H.R. 3820 gives gun owners confidence when purchasing firearms, and requires the FBI to submit an annual report to Congress regarding the total number and nature of appeals reported– providing additional transparency to their processing times and bottlenecks in the appeals process.

Congressman Fulcher commented, “There are several regulations already in place to prevent dangerous or inappropriate individuals from obtaining guns, and restrictions against purchasing weapons from retailers. The Biden Administration should switch their focus toward addressing the clear obstacles in the process for law-abiding citizens to provide more freedom, not less.”

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In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and ATF Acting Director Marvin Richardson, Congressman Fulcher signed alongside 140 Members of the House of Representatives urging the Department of Justice to reverse prospective guidance on Stabilizing Braces. In the letter, written by Congressman Richard Hudson (NC-08), Fulcher criticizes the ATF’s efforts to penalize existing ownership of “stabilizing braces” by classifying pistols with braces as rifles.

There are concerns that this would particularly impact disabled veterans, many of whom use these braces to continue recreational shooting with the reliability of the brace concept. With the proposed guidance on stabilizing braces, millions of gun-owners and Veterans would, at the very least, be charged a new $200 special federal tax if a brace is added to a pistol, in the case that the ATF defines it as a rifle.

“The proposed guidance could criminalize law-abiding citizens, and especially veterans, overnight. I strongly urge Attorney General Garland and ATF Acting Director Richardson to consider how these additional regulations and penalties will impact the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens and disabled veterans who bravely served our country. The Second Amendment is clear: the right to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,” commented Congressman Fulcher.

Finally, H.R. 3823, the PISTOL Act introduced by Congressman Bob Good (VA-05), prevents the Biden Administration from classifying pistols that are equipped with a stabilizing brace as a rifle, and prevents ATF from using arbitrary factors, such as holding a pistol with two hands, to classify a pistol as a rifle. H.R. 3823 further prevents the Administration from exhausting regulations and inhibits what constitutes a pistol by arbitrary bureaucratic interpretation.

“Safeguarding the Bill of Rights should not be partisan,” said Congressman Fulcher. “However, under the current administration, it is subject to arbitrary regulations and penalties. I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 3823, and thank my colleague Congressman Bob Good for his leadership against improper classification of pistol braces and the impediment of those who responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights.”

Learn more about Congressman Fulcher’s actions to uphold the Second Amendment on his website here.

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