A spokesman for the Gun Owners of America explains why they’re fighting back against Donald Trump’s recently signed mega-bill, which harms private gun owners.
Just when it seemed that President Donald Trump and gun groups were on the same page, the One Big Beautiful Bill that was signed this past week shook up the landscape.
The Gun Owners of America, alongside other notable gun groups, recently planned to file a federal lawsuit in an effort to “dismantle the remaining provisions of the National Firearms Act (NFA)”.
And the reasoning for that? After working with Congress for the longest time to fully repeal the NFA, Republicans worked alongside an unselected bureaucrat to change the provision. Reducing the NFA’s $200 excise tax to $0 on suppressors, short-barreled rifles, shotguns and other similar weapons was not what they had in mind. As such, they’re now challenging it.
With the lawsuit, the Gun Owners of America, alongside others, will ask the courts to strike down the new $0 tax and registration scheme, as its mandates clearly violate the Second Amendment and the rights of private gun owners.
Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, noted, “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to dismantle one of the most abusive federal gun control laws on the books. With the tax struck down by Congress, the rest of the NFA is standing on air. We’re ready to take this fight to the courts and finally end the federal registry once and for all.”
A spokesman for the Gun Owners of America – either Mark Jones or Stephen Willeford – joins us now to discuss this lawsuit further. We welcome them to the show!
Q&A:
- So what happened? It almost appeared that the GOA’s work on removing the NFA was a done deal. How did Republicans end up working alongside a bureaucrat to change things?
- How does this hurt private gun owners in terms of the NFA’s excise tax, now that things have changed?
- Why do you think Trump hasn’t had any say on the matter? Was he more concerned by other terms on the bill?
- What are you hoping to accomplish with this lawsuit?
- 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?
- You can purchase the book here on Amazon, both in paperback and Kindle format.
- 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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