Gun Owners of America: Newt Ain’t Great on 2nd Amendment Rights, Broke His Promise to America

As long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights

~ Newt Gingrich lying to the American people

By Gary P Jackson

Like you needed more reasons to scratch Newt of your list as a potential GOP nominee. The Conservative group, Gun Owners of America, reminds us that back in the day, when Newt was in Congress, he was no friend to gun owners.

Despite Newt’s promise that NO gun control legislation would ever make it out of committee, let alone to the floor of the House, many left wing gun control bills did just that, and with the full support of Newt Gingrich.

[And some people wonder why you can’t trust Newt as far as you can throw him!]

Not only did Newt support liberal legislation that infringed on gun owners’ rights, some of this legislation, like the ban of guns in schools, made disasters like the shootings at Virginia Tech all the more possible.

Some of the legislation Newt helped pass through his Republican controlled Congress has resulted in otherwise law abiding Americans to lose their Second Amendment rights for the most minor of infractions.

What kind of man would work to take this lady’s rights away?

From the Gun Owners of America:

Prior to the “Republican Revolution” of 1994, Rep. Newt Gingrich of Georgia had earned an A rating with Gun Owners of America. But that all changed in 1995, after Republicans were swept to power and Gingrich became Speaker of the House.

The Republicans gained the majority, thanks in large part to gun owners outraged by the Clinton gun ban. And upon taking the reins of the House, Speaker Gingrich said famously that, “As long as I am Speaker of this House, no gun control legislation is going to move in committee or on the floor of this House and there will be no further erosion of their rights.”

His promise didn’t hold up, however, and his GOA rating quickly dropped to well below the “C-level.” In 1996, the Republican-led Congress passed the “gun free school zones act,” creating criminal safe zones like Virginia Tech, where the only person armed was a murderous criminal. Speaker Newt Gingrich voted for the bill containing this ban.[1]

The same bill also contained the now infamous Lautenberg gun ban, which lowered the threshold for losing one’s Second Amendment rights to a mere misdemeanor.[2] Gun owners could, as a result of this ban, lose their gun rights forever for non-violent shouting matches that occurred in the home — and, in many cases, lose their rights without a jury trial.

While a legislator might sometimes vote for a spending bill which contains objectionable amendments, that was clearly NOT the case with Newt Gingrich in 1996. Speaking on Meet the Press in September of that year, Speaker Gingrich said the Lautenberg gun ban was “a very reasonable position.”[3] He even refused to cosponsor a repeal of the gun ban during the next Congress — despite repeated requests to do so.[4]

Also in 1996, Speaker Gingrich cast his vote for an anti-gun terror bill which contained several harmful provisions. For example, one of the versions he supported (in March of that year) contained a DeLauro amendment that would have severely punished gun owners for possessing a laser sighting device while committing an infraction as minor as speeding on a federal reservation.[5] (Not only would this provision have stigmatized laser sights, it would have served as a first step to banning these items.) Another extremely harmful provision was the Schumer amendment to “centralize Federal, State and Local police.”[6]

Final passage of H.R. 3610, Sept. 28, 1996 at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll455.xml .

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) warned his colleagues about the hidden dangers in H.R. 3610, and in regard to the Kohl ban, noted that it would “prohibit most persons from carrying unloaded firearms in their automobiles.”

See Gingrich’s vote at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll455.xml .

[3] Associated Press, “Gingrich Favors Handgun Ban for Domestic Abuse Convicts,” Deseret News, Sept. 16, 1996. The full quote reveals how much Speaker Gingrich had adopted the anti-gunners’ line of thinking: “I’m very much in favor of stopping people who engage in violence against their spouses from having guns,” the Georgia Republican said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think that’s a very reasonable position.” But the fact that this gun ban covers misdemeanors in the home is primary evidence that NON-violent people have been subjected to lifetime gun bans for things like: shouting matches, throwing a set of keys in the direction of another person, spanking a child, etc.

[4] See H.R.1009, “States’ Rights and Second and Tenth Amendment Restoration Act of 1997,” introduced by Rep. Helen Chenoweth (R-ID).

H.R. 2703, March 14, 1996 at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll066.xml .

S. 735, April 18, 1996 at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll126.xml .

Newt lies to gun owners, telling them he would protect their rights, and ensure no gun control legislation would see the light of day on his watch, then proceeds to push through some of the most radical gun control laws in our nation’s history. Can you trust this man?

No.

Can you trust Newt when he says he won’t push amnesty for illegals, government mandated health insurance, sweeping “global warming” legislation like cap and tax, if elected? These are all positions he’s supported, some as recently as six months ago.

Not no, but hell no!

If Newt can’t be trusted to protect our sacred Second Amendment rights, after stating in no uncertain terms he would, how could any rational human being think he wouldn’t lie again, and push all of his Big Government “progressive” nonsense once in office.

How can any rational human being think Newt could be trusted in any way, shape, or form?

Newt’s word means nothing. Nothing whatsoever.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice ….

Though created as an anti-Obama, pro Tea Party video back in 2009, the sentiments apply to phony Conservatives who would destroy your Liberty and Freedom as well. There are very bad man in both political parties. Newt Gingrich is a very bad man.