Coburn Defends Vote To Hear Gun Control Bill

Political Realities ^ | 04/13/13 | LD Jackson

[LD Jackson]

Most of you will already know that I am a supporter of Senator Tom Coburn. That doesn't mean I support everything decision he has made during his time in Congress, but I do support his efforts to do the right thing for his constituents, those of us who live in the great state of Oklahoma. He first came to Congress in 1994 and promised to term limit himself in that body. He kept that promise. He was elected to the United States Senate in 2004 and promised to limit himself to two terms. He has already announced that he will keep that promise and not run for reelection in 2016. Those of you who have made comments on Facebook, threatening Senator Coburn with the support of his primary opponent in 2016, you might keep in mind that your threats are empty. He will not be running in that election.

If there is one thing I have learned in my time of following politics and the people we elect to positions in government, it is to take the time to hear the explanations they offer for the votes they have cast and the decisions they have made. Another thing I have learned is that some things are not as they seem to be on the surface. Especially with people like Senator Coburn. His past actions in our defense have earned him the right to be heard and not thrown out with the bath water. In that spirit, I ask you to read the statement Tom Coburn has released, explaining why he voted to advance the gun control legislation to the floor of the Senate. All I ask is that you read it in its entirety and consider it carefully.

Why I’m Fighting to Protect Gun Rights

Many Oklahomans and gun owners across the country have asked why I have decided to participate in negotiations, and then vote to move to a debate, they view as designed to limit their rights. I understand my role in this debate appears surprising in light of my long record of not only defending but expanding Second Amendment rights by, for example, giving Americans the right to carry guns in national parks. I have also filibustered popular bills in order to defend the rights of veterans who have been stripped of their Second Amendment rights without due process because they were wrongly declared mentally unfit.

First, let me be clear about what the Senate will and will not be considering in the coming days. The most onerous and blatantly unconstitutional provisions the gun control lobby favors – a ban on supposed “assault weapons” (any gun in the hands of a criminal is an assault weapon) and a plan to limit magazine sizes, policies I vehemently oppose – have zero chance of passing. What is up for consideration is how to improve a broken system that literally allows illegal aliens, drug traffickers, child molesters, rapists, felons, members of al Qaeda cells and mentally-deranged persons to buy firearms. If you believe the Second Amendment gives those people the right to arm themselves then we have an irreconcilable difference of opinion. If you believe the Constitution allows for laws that prevent those people from buying guns then keep reading.

Let me also say plainly that my job as a United States Senator isn’t to get reelected or to do what is popular. Instead, my job is to do what is right and follow my oath to defend and protect the Constitution to the best of my ability. Some have even suggested a more pro-Second Amendment Republican should run against me in the primary next election. I hate to disappoint them but I respect the will of the people so much I have primaried myself by term-limiting myself. I announced my decision to limit my Senate service to two terms when I ran in 2004 and will leave the Senate in 2016.

In my view, not participating in this debate would do more to jeopardize Americans’ Second Amendment rights than participating. The fact is there are gaps in the law that make it far too easy for dangerous people to access firearms. Every act of gun violence not only takes away the rights – and sometimes lives – of victims but also chips away at the rights of law abiding citizens. Responsible gun owners should be leading the effort to make sure firearms are used for the purpose our founders’ intended – self-defense and freedom, not mayhem and murder.

That is precisely why I have spent weeks working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop an easy way to transfer firearms that protects Americans’ Second Amendment rights while giving them the tools they need to make sure they aren’t selling a gun to someone who will be a threat to themselves or others.

The gun control lobby calls this goal “universal background checks” which is an inaccurate and inappropriate term. Let me clear about what I am proposing: When a person wants to buy a gun they are not, and should not be, subjected to an investigation or have their background inspected by the federal government. What is Constitutional in my view (and current law) is to determine whether that person is on a list of dangerous or prohibited persons. This list is called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or (NICS) list.

In practice, the NICS system is more like the check every American goes through when they buy a plane ticket. If you are not on the “do not fly list” you are not subjected to a special investigation. The NICS system is essentially a “do not buy list” that is supposed to stop dangerous people from buying guns. The vast majority of gun owners aren’t opposed to a “do not buy list.” Just as Americans do not want to board a plane with someone on the “do not fly list” they do not want to sell a gun to, or be in a public place with, someone on the “do not buy list.”

The problem is the NICS system isn’t very useful because it’s very easy for dangerous people to evade. The central question the Senate will debate in the coming days is how to improve that system.

Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) have proposed a solution that is unworkable and unfair to gun owners. Their proposal would expand the broken NICS system and facilitate a government takeover of gun shows and commercial sales. If their proposal becomes law, visitors to Wanenmacher’s gun show in Tulsa and gun shows across America will face a new tax of $30 to $50, and sometimes more, as they exercise their constitutional right to buy a gun. Or, if you see an ad for a gun online, you will be declared a felon if you do anything but drive to a gun store and perform the transaction in the presence of someone with a Federal Firearms License (FFL). Both gun shows and FFLs will also be required to keep a record of those sales. Gun owners will reject and ignore these changes.

The proposal I will offer, on the other hand, would create a consumer portal that would allow someone to go online for free and print out a pass that proves they are not on the NICS list. Law abiding citizens won’t be treated as guilty until proven innocent and they won’t face a new tax as they exercise their constitutional rights. Citizens also won’t be required to keep records under my proposal. Finally, my bill will allow people who already have a concealed carry permit to buy a gun without taking additional steps, and it will give states the right to come up with their own ways to declare that someone isn’t on the NICS list.

The story the media has not reported, and citizens in Oklahoma and elsewhere have not heard, is that in the negotiations about how to improve access to the NICS list, it has been my office versus the gun control lobby. Second Amendment groups, unfortunately, have chosen to sit on the sidelines and pretend we can’t fix a system that allows illegal aliens to buy guns.

As the Senate debates these measures every American has a responsibility to do their homework and understand what is and is not under consideration. My office is prepared to answer as many questions as possible as clearly and quickly as we can. This is a debate defenders of the Second Amendment can’t afford to ignore.

[muawiyah]

Coburn is way behind on the science involving very dangerous people ~ just do a search for news schizophrenia ~ lots of stuff in the last couple of weeks.

Somebody bring this jackass up to date ~ it isn't our systems that have a problem it's people with problems!

[nathanbedford]

What the hell does any of this have to do with reducing the number of votes required to pass an acceptable solution and thus leaving the very citizens Coburn professes to want to protect vulnerable to leftist gun grabbing?

[Cowboy Bob]

After they debate the bill, can they filibuster it?

[joe fonebone]

sorry pal,

if the government controls a list, it also controls who or what goes on that list.....

they will define mental illness, they will define felons, they will define al quida, they will define rapists and terrorists...

catholics, protestants, ex military, conservatives are among those that have been labeled potential terrorists...

the feds create a law to create a whole new class of felons out of thin air...

a person tells the cops that their spouse threatened them ( real or made up ) you are guilty without trial of spousal abuse....

serve in the military, well, you have post traumatic stress, therefore you are mentally damaged, therefore you are on the list...

coburn, take your totaltarian anti constitution crap and down the road and spew it to someone else..

you are the definition of nanny stater..

[IbJensen]

Come on Coburn. You’re guilty of vacillation on this issue. Why not stand up and make some noise against the gun grabbers and show that you stand in the front rank against this attack on our Second Amendment?

[RugerMini14]

What is up for consideration is how to improve a broken system that literally allows illegal aliens, drug traffickers, child molesters, rapists, felons, members of al Qaeda cells and mentally-deranged persons to buy firearms.

If the problem is illegal aliens or felons with firearms then make it a crime for an illegal alien or felon to possess a gun, and then lock them up. But don't pretend that you're doing anything but infringing on the right of law abiding citizens to exercise their 2A rights.

Coburn, you are a lying POS nanny stater.

I'm pretty much convinced that the fix is in and RINOs are going to cave. Sadly, I think I'm done with the Republican party and this country. I am glad I am not a young man.

[BushCountry]

His justification? A TSA style list. Tens of thousands of innocent people have been flagged by the TSA No Fly List! All it takes is to have a similar name to someone else on the list. It is a complete disaster.

But the lying scum-sucking bottom feeding degenerate weasel knows that a plain list TSA version of the bill will never survive muster. A more onerous one will pass the senate. He needs gun owners to express their feelings and not be as kind as I have been to him.

[C. Edmund Wright]

I won’t spill the vitriol that others are, but I will say that Coburn is being naive to think that such systems will be honestly brokered by our government bureaurats. Blitheringly naive.

[G Larry]

“...allow someone to go online for free and print out a pass that proves they are not on the NICS list.”

Ignoring the likelihood of fake passes, I’m a bit more concerned with who determines the criteria for being placed on the NICS list in the first place.

Other legislation has proposed NURSES can have you added!!!

Imagine if they don’t like your attitude about not answering gun questions on your health history questionnaire!!!!

[sport]

You can parse it in any terms that you please, but the pure unvarnished truth is; Coburn turned his coat.

[Sir Napsalot]

Coburn may think himself honorable.

But he doesn’t know (? after how many years in DC) the opponents don’t play by the rules.

Fail (on the explanation).

[sport]

Nope. After debate, they vote. 51 or less, it passes[the less than 51 kicks in if only a minimum of Senators in attendance at vote time [a qurom].50-50- The Vice President casts the deciding vote and Biden is the Vice President. So... And do not be fooled the “Democrats from “Red States” will vot against it in fear of not being re-elected. A Democrat is a Democrat and there are more Democrats than Republicans in the Senate. In fact, as the clother vote demonestrated, there are a good number of Democrats masquerading as Republicans ,in my opinion, traitors to the Constitution. But thatis only my opinion.

[sport]

you are the definition of nanny stater.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!! Preach it Brother!!

[sport]

I'm pretty much convinced that the fix is in and RINOs are going to cave

My thoughts, including the House.

[T-Bird45]

As with most politicians, Coburn can't see he's tied himself in knots while contradicting himself:

The proposal I will offer, on the other hand, would create a consumer portal that would allow someone to go online for free and print out a pass that proves they are not on the NICS list. Law abiding citizens won’t be treated as guilty until proven innocent...
Finally, my bill will allow people who already have a concealed carry permit to buy a gun without taking additional steps, and it will give states the right to come up with their own ways to declare that someone isn’t on the NICS list.

The method he proposes in the first part above is exactly having to prove you are innocent and merely moves the operation of NICS out to the population rather than just with the FFLs. As another poster noted, the government's skill with list accuracy is notably lacking when considering the TSA "no-fly" fiascoes and delayed firearms sales to citizens that have names that are similar to those on "The List".

The second part is actually good practice for FTF sales now. Some states' CCW system allows for this in retail gun store sales but the OK license does not pass muster with the BATFE for some obscure reason. It would be nice to level that playing field but I'm not willing to compromise on expanding government power in order to get it.

I'd further point out that his proposal makes no change that addresses the root cause(s) in any of the recent tragic events. Perfect safety and security cannot be achieved in a society with real freedom, IMO. The scales have to be balanced to ensure the rights of citizens to realize the condition described in the 4th Amendment of being secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, not just against government but from those seeking to cause harm.

[Travis McGee]

Schumer already has a plan to nearly eliminate gun violence.

Approved individual trigger unlocking devices (ITUDs) in your approved firearms will match your chip. We'll be safe from gun violence at last!

[hinckley buzzard]

Correct. The fly in this ointment is the composition and control of the List. Coburn has apparently been in Washington so long he actually believes this bureaucratic blunt instrument will not be abused. I note his proposal has no safeguard against the List being expanded to include all the hypothetical risk populations he talks about at the top.

That will mean a suspension of due process just for a start. The government already wants to waive HIPPA privacy so people with diagnoses, not probable cause but simply a diagnosed condition, should be controlled by government. Coburn having once been a doctor should be sensitive to the abuse that would follow from his compromise.

[Pollster1]

I’ll agree that Coburn has had his good points, but voting on whether we will be permitted to keep our fundamental human rights is not in any way acceptable. Coburn has no more say on that question than Reid, Obama, BATFE, or the United States military. As the US Army proved in 1861-1865, they do have a say on whether we keep our freedom and even our lives, but our rights were granted by God, and on that question we do not answer to a lower power and especially not to the lowest power of all, those following God’s Adversary.

[C. Edmund Wright]

Coburn has apparently been in Washington so long he actually believes this bureaucratic blunt instrument will not be abused.

Which is exactly what I thought, and ironic at the same time - since he seemed to know 12 years ago that being in Washington too long was a problem in and of itself - and to his credit - is not running for a third term. (of course, the Senate was supposed to be the long time body, and the House was supposed to turn over rapidly, and the reverse has happened, but that's another issue).