The following letter was sent to U.S. Senators on September 24, 2019.

Will Senate Republicans turn a blind eye while another anti-gunner gains power?

Dear Senator,

A gun control proposal directly linked to the White House and Attorney General William Barr was recently leaked in the Daily Caller.

The proposal is the anti-gunners’ number one prerequisite for any Beto-style gun confiscation: Universal (Background) Registration Checks.

Since the announcement of William Barr’s nomination for Attorney General, Gun Owners of America has detailed an extensive list of concerns with his history on the Second Amendment—including support for a so-called Assault Weapons Ban in the 1990s!

The same disastrous scenario could play out again with Chuck Canterbury, who is Trump’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Credited with saying: “I take a back seat to no one in my reverence for the Second Amendment,” Canterbury was, in fact, happy to sit back while his organization endorsed Universal Background Checks.

In fact, he promised Senator Kamala Harris he would enforce gun control when  she questioned if he was “commit[ted] to fully enforcing any assault weapons bans” (Page 37, Question 1).

Canterbury also stated that he would “be happy” to work with Senator Feinstein to draft “red flag” gun confiscation language (Page 7, Question 1).

When pressed, he even opposed Senator Cornyn’s Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill, S. 69—a bill which has 37 Republican cosponsors (Page 25, Question 8; Page 14, Question 8).

We’re talking about a nominee to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who, in Senate confirmation hearings, couldn’t remember where the right to keep and bear arms comes from (02:04:48).

We are far past trying to figure out if Chuck Canterbury is a believer in Americans’ Constitutional Second Amendment rights. He is anti-gun.

The question gun owners are asking is: “When will Republicans stand up to anti-gun nominees and defend the Second Amendment?”

Sincerely,

Aidan Johnston
Director of Federal Affairs
Gun Owners of America