WTF? Seriously, fuck those guys.
If you all aren't familiar with Rep. Thomas Massie, you should be.
http://armedamericanradio.org/show-archives/2017-09-07/
Ryan Blocking Concealed Carry Reciprocity, Congressman Tells Armed American Radio
Speaker Paul Ryan will not allow Congressional action on national concealed carry reciprocity to move bills forward, Rep. Thomas Massie told host Mark Walters Thursday on Armed American Radio. The reason given is Ryan thinks the timing isn’t right to consider H.R. 2909, the D.C. Personal Protection Reciprocity Act, a supplement to state reciprocity provisions of H.R. 38.
Massie introduced his legislation after the ball field shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise and other Republicans by an anti-Trump Bernie Sanders supporter in Alexandria, VA.
“I would tell you this is a gun-free zone except that I know the criminals are carrying every day,” Massie told Walters via phone from “right outside the Capitol.
“It is only a 10-mile gun-free zone for law-abiding citizens,” Massie explained. “Although Virginia’s a reciprocity state, and most everybody with a permit could have been carrying in Virginia, they couldn’t carry in Washington D.C. where they started their day and where they were going to end their day.”
. . .
Massie went on to explain how he’s seen “a lot of pro-gun bills being introduced but they were going nowhere.” That’s a common tactic among politicians happy to capitalize off good press they can showcase to their constituents while cynically understanding the bills are intended for that, not to actually be passed and to change anything.
So why has there been no movement on reciprocity and on the additional provision of recognizing state permits in the District?
“We’ve got over 80 cosponsors at this point,” Massie told Walters when asked the status of his bill, which is currently and procedurally in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform because Congress has oversight responsibility for Washington D.C. He’s “pressing for a hearing on it.”
Massie is understandably frustrated by “leadership” obstruction. “Why haven’t we seen movement over either 38 or 2909 since the horrific events in Virginia?” Walters asked, noting the Republicans control the House and the Senate and both Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appear to be blocking bills advancing the right to keep and bear arms.
“You know what?” Massie replied, “The Speaker told me he didn’t think the timing was right. And I think this is the exact timing to bring this bill.”
Of course it is. What a disingenuous excuse. When will the timing be better?
The thing is, depending on who gun owners listen to, both Ryan and McConnell are called “staunch supporters of the Second Amendment.” Yet time after time, on guns, on Obamacare, on immigration, on any real change, they look like they’re taking positions directly contrary to why a critical mass of Americans got tired of standard Republican excuse-making fare and voted for Donald Trump.
