Editor’s Note: Gun Pulse, formerly an email newsletter from The Sentinel meant to cover the battle over the Second Amendment in our nation, is now exclusively available on our website.
Representative Claudia Tenney, a Republican from New York, introduced legislation last week that would prohibit states from overriding federal gun laws with more aggressive firearm bans.
The bill, entitled the Second Amendment Guarantee Act, would indeed prevent states from banning the “manufacture, sale, importation, or possession of any rifle or shotgun that is lawfully permitted” under existing federal statutes. Tenney referenced laws in her home state of New York which ban certain firearms and noted that her proposal would nullify those restrictions.
“The Constitution clearly established our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms,” she remarked in a statement. “The SAGA Act nullifies New York’s unconstitutional SAFE Act and prevents other states from enacting laws that violate the Second Amendment. This legislation upholds our country's founding principle of protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans.”
Representative Doug LaMalfa, a Republican from California, and Representative Nick Langworthy, a Republican from New York, were initial cosponsors of the bill. They similarly come from states in which Democratic governing majorities routinely advance gun control.
"No matter how hard radical Democrats in Albany attempt to limit lawful gun ownership, the New York Congressional delegation will stand firm to protect law-abiding New Yorkers and manufacturers in protecting their constitutional rights,” Langworthy added in the statement.
Various gun rights organizations commended the bill, with one social media post from the National Association for Gun Rights saying the bill would “destroy state-level gun bans entirely.”
Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, noted that Tenney is a cosponsor of his National Constitutional Carry Act, another proposal supported by gun rights advocates.
Several states have passed laws in recent years to eliminate permit requirements for concealed carry, reasoning that government agencies cannot preemptively limit rights inalienably given by God. The proposal from Massie would recognize such rights across every state in the country.
