If this is true, it’s not a good sign for the future:
CNN – A Florida GOP congressman who recently called for a ban on future purchases of “assault and tactical firearms” said Tuesday that other Republicans in Congress have been quietly receptive to his position.
“Many of them are (receptive). Many of them have come up to me, you know, kind of more so one on one a little bit quietly. You know how that is. They’re not necessarily wanting to have this conversation in front of everybody,” Rep. Brian Mast told CNN’s “New Day.”
“They’re saying ‘Hey, good job on you. Good job on taking a stand. Good job in saying that. How is that playing? What are people saying to you back in your district?’ They’re really wanting to know what is the reception about what I’ve heard about what I’ve said,” Mast continued.
A Florida GOP congressman who recently called for a ban on future purchases of "assault and tactical firearms" says other Republicans in Congress have been quietly receptive to his position https://t.co/DINSLikr8U pic.twitter.com/BnFmZpcNpY
— CNN (@CNN) February 27, 2018
Mast, an Army combat veteran who himself carries a concealed pistol, announced Friday in an op-ed in The New York Times that he supports “defining what constitutes an assault or tactical firearm and not allowing them for future purchase.” The op-ed came in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre.
In addition to calling for a ban on future assault weapon sales, Mast said he supports universal background checks, a ban on the sale of “accessories and add-ons that circumvent the ban on automatic firearms” and a ban on gun sales to individuals who “have been detained for mental illness” or are “being looked at as a possible terrorist” by the government.
Mast also said he supports providing “behavior detection training” to anyone seeking a federal firearms license, making more resources available to schools to improve security measures, holding the “FBI and state agencies accountable for their failures to identify a threat like (Parkland shooter) Nikolas Cruz” and “conducting further research into the nexus of gun violence, violence in mass media and mental illness.”
Army combat veteran or not, this Florida Congressman sounds like he’s going completely RINO on this issue. Not only does he want to ban ‘assault or tactical firearms’, he supports ‘universal background checks’ which is just code for regulating private sales.
And it sounds like from what he’s suggesting that some of his fellow Republicans are already going soft as well. But even if they agree with him ‘quietly’, are they willing to put their career on the line for it? I suspect that’s not the case given how many of them love their congressional careers and are from strong 2nd amendment districts.