House Republicans launch Second Amendment Caucus

House Republicans launch Second Amendment Caucus

A group of conservative U.S. Representatives has banded together to form a caucus that will work towards shepherding a host of pro-gun bills in the new Congress.

Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie said the time was right to resurrect the group, which operated from 2004 through 2013 as the Second Amendment Caucus and later the Second Amendment Task Force before falling dormant in recent years.

“The recent election results present us with a new opportunity to advance pro-gun legislation and reverse the erosion of the Second Amendment that’s occurred over the last few decades,” Massie said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the new President and this determined group of conservatives to promote a pro-gun agenda.”

Massie, a Libertarian-leaning conservative who supported U.S. Sen. Rand Paul over Donald Trump for president and received endorsements by Gun Owners of America, is a long-time concealed carry permit holder and Class III weapon collector who thinks the right to keep and bear arms has nothing to do with duck hunting.

“In fact, the Second Amendment to our Constitution is our Founding Fathers’ restatement of our natural God given right to defend life, liberty, and property,” he said on his campaign website.

While in Congress, the lawmaker and engineer by trade cosponsored legislation to allow veterans to buy unlicensed guns while abroad and bring them back to the county, efforts to roll back Washington, D.C.’s gun laws and “assault weapon” ban, and measures to ease restrictions on transporting firearms and ammo across state lines. In 2013, he was the only congressman to vote against the Undetectable Firearms Act to mandate the inclusion of metal in plastic guns….

The new group is separate from the Second Amendment Coalition formed by President-elect Trump, which includes six U.S. Representatives as co-chairs, none of which are a part of the Massie caucus.

Read more at Guns.com