Rep. Roy and his Texas Colleagues Urge Governor Abbott to Fight Biden’s Radical Gun Control Agenda

by Chip Roy on June 24, 2021 at 11:26 AM

On Wednesday, following the Biden administration’s announcement of new gun control measures, a direct affront on our second amendment rights, my colleagues from the Texas congressional delegation and I sent a letter to Governor Abbott in support of the Governor’s efforts to resist these unconstitutional infringements and urging him to continue to fight against the Biden administration’s gun-grabbing agenda.

Gun Owners of America issued the following statement in support of the letter: “The United States was born out of a resistance to tyranny. When the federal government seeks to infringe the rights of its citizens, its the duty of the states to stand for freedom, Texas should commit to protecting its citizens from President Biden's ATF as it circumvents Congress to enact a gun ban, regulate gun parts, and prepare a gun registry. GOA applauds Rep. Chip Roy's strong stand for Texans' right to keep and bear arms.”

Cosigners to the letter are: Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Louie Gohmert, Pete Sessions, Van Taylor, Ronny L. Jackson, Lance Gooden, August Pfluger, Brian Babin, D.D.S., and Michael Cloud.

Full text of the letter is available at the link here and below:

The Honorable Greg Abbott

Governor of Texas

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711

Dear Governor Abbott,

As you know, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) under President Biden is aggressively targeting gun owners, including our fellow Texans. Worst of all, the Biden Administration is carrying out these attacks on our Second Amendment rights through executive actions rather than legislatively, where it would be difficult or impossible to pass them. We write to offer our full support for any efforts you can take to ensure that President Biden’s destructive agenda does not infringe on Texans’ Second Amendment rights.

ATF’s proposed rule entitled Definition of “Frame or Receiver” and Identification of Firearms would take a significant step toward a national gun registry by requiring Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealers to permanently maintain personal gun owner information and records of firearm transfer information including makes, models, and serial numbers. This proposed rule would also expand the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to apply to gun parts—not just to the frame or receiver of a firearm—contradicting statute and the clear intent of Congress with its repeal of the Federal Firearms Act’s regulation of gun parts and enactment of the Gun Control Act to regulate a single firearm part.

Further, ATF’s latest Proposed Rule entitled Factoring Criteria for Firearms With Attached “Stabilizing Braces” risks banning roughly 40 million pistols and AR15-style firearms by reversing over eight years of interpretive guidance and would do so without an act of Congress. The ATF’s proposed rule would intentionally redefine these firearms to be short-barreled rifles, thus allowing the ATF to charge Americans with a federal felony by simply possessing them.

Short-barreled rifles should not be regulated under the National Firearms Act (NFA). Yet the Biden administration continues to add more commonly used firearms and accessories to the NFA’s strict regulatory framework of gun and gun owner registration—threatening to make felons of countless honest Texans.

Earlier this year, you called for Texas to become a Second Amendment Sanctuary state. In response, the Texas Legislature passed HB 2622, authored by Representative Justin Holland and sponsored by Senator Bob Hall. This legislation ensures that Texans will no longer use state personnel or resources to enforce federal infringements of the second amendment. This legislation couldn’t have come at a better time, and we stand with you to ensure this important legislation is implemented.

We must defend Texans against the unconstitutional infringements of President Biden’s rogue federal bureaucrats. Attorney General Paxton has correctly pledged to litigate to stop the recent proposed pistol brace regulation. But we would also support any efforts you can take under Texas’s new Second Amendment Sanctuary to prohibit state funding from flowing to any Texas agency or political subdivision that attempts in any way to assist in enforcing President Biden’s offensive, tyrannical gun control agenda, including the above-mentioned proposed regulations. We urge you to work with Texas agencies, political subdivisions, law enforcement officers and employees thereof to prevent any enforcement scheme. We stand with you to ensure that regardless of any actions of the federal government, Texans’ right to keep and bear arms is not infringed.

Sincerely,

Chip Roy

Member of Congress

Dan Crenshaw

Member of Congress

Louie Gohmert

Member of Congress

Pete Sessions

Member of Congress

Van Taylor

Member of Congress

Ronny L. Jackson