A spokesman for the Gun Owners of America explains why the group is fighting back to restore the Second Amendment rights to countless non-violent Americans.
There are several hundreds of thousands of Americans that are looking to have their gun rights restored – but the decades-old Schumer Amendment stands in the way. However, that may not be the case for long.
This week, the Gun Owners of America called on the support of both its members and others to support a proposed rule put in place by the Trump Department of Justice, which would do away with the troublesome Amendment and restore the rights to non-violent American citizens.
The Schumer Amendment was originally put in place back in 1992, taking away the only federal process available (outside of a slim-to-none pardon from the President) to federally restore firearms rights. As a result, it almost seemed like a lifetime ban on gun ownership was taking place for those with certain non-violent convictions or temporary mental health commitments. They weren’t even given any sort of process for review.
But now, the DOJ is hard at work to restore these gun rights, taking away any authority on the matter from the ATF. These include:
- That Congress, through § 925(c), expressly authorized the Attorney General to grant relief to individuals who are not dangerous and whose restoration is “in the public interest”;
- That the Schumer amendment’s decades-long funding blockade represented a constitutional abuse, unjustly blocking citizens from reclaiming a core right;
- That restoring this process is critical to treating the Second Amendment as a first-class right, not subject to the whims of unelected agency officials;
- That non-violent, non-dangerous persons have never historically been stripped of their right to keep and bear arms in this country’s tradition.
Erich Pratt, who serves as Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, noted, “This is a monumental breakthrough after decades of injustice. GOA has long fought for the restoration of constitutional rights stripped by Chuck Schumer’s amendment, and the Trump administration’s rule is a powerful step in the right direction. We urge our members to speak up and flood the DOJ with support.”
A spokesman for the group—either Mark Jones or “hero-with-a-gun” Stephen Willeford—joins us now to discuss the situation further.
Q&A:
- Why was the Schumer Amendment put in place to begin with? Were people truly that concerned about non-violent Americans or those with resolved mental health issues gaining access to firearms?
- Why is such a restriction so unfair? Because of what the Second Amendment of the Constitution provides?
- Did the Schumer Amendment seem to give the ATF more power than needed over certain Americans?
- Trump’s Department of Justice wants to restore these Second Amendment rights, but what kind of resistance stands in the way of passing their rule?
- What can both GOA members and supporters alike due to chime in on getting the new rule passed?
- Gun Owners of America is hosting an event this year called GOALS 2025. Tell us more about it.
- FOR STEPHEN: You recently wrote a book called A Town Called Sutherland Springs: Faith and Heroism Through Tragedy, revolving around your 2017 “hero with a gun” situation. Tell us more about how this came together, and why it’s such an important read right now.
- FOR STEPHEN: Where can people find your book?
- FOR MARK: Tell us more about the Hunter Outreach program.
- Where can we learn more about you, as well as Gun Owners of America?
- You can learn more at http://www.thebarefootdefender.com. You can also read more about the Gun Owners of America at https://www.gunowners.org/.
About Mark Jones…
Mark Jones is National Director for the Gun Owners of America, and also directs the National Hunter Outreach Program across the United States. He also manages legislative responsibilities in Wyoming and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist.
Mark built GOA’s National Hunter Outreach Program almost four years ago after retiring from his first career as a Big Game and Small Game Biologist. Mark has nearly three decades of experience performing wildlife research, publishing peer-reviewed scientific papers, managing wildlife resources, working with hunters and recreational shooters, and engaging in legislative issues with governmental policy.
Mark has been very active in helping GOA take on a National role in protecting the American Hunting Traditions. He is also well known in the Legislature and political circles where he has worked to pass a variety of pro-Second Amendment and pro-hunting Legislation in recent years.
About Stephen Willeford…
Stephen represents Gun Owners of America and is known around the country as the “good guy with the gun” for helping stop the largest Texas mass shooting in the history of the state in 2017. He is available to speak about all gun rights issues, as well as the importance of Gun Owners of America. He is the author of the book A Town Called Sutherland Springs: Faith and Heroism Through Tragedy. You can read more about him at http://www.thebarefootdefender.com.
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