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GOP Governors Blast Biden's Gun Control Push; Some Vow to Fight Back

GOP Governors Blast Biden's Gun Control Push; Some Vow to Fight Back

(Olga Mendenhall/Dreamstime)

 

By    |   Friday, 09 April 2021 10:08 PM EDT

More than a handful of Republican governors have blasted President Joe Biden’s gun control plans as total government outreach and some have defied his push with legislation of their own, according to reports.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday signed a new bill that would block any federal restrictions against the Second Amendment in the state. In Tennessee on the same day, Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill that allows people in the state to carry handguns concealed or openly without a permit.

"I signed constitutional carry today because it shouldn't be hard for law-abiding Tennesseans to exercise their [Second Amendment] rights," Lee tweeted. "Thank you, members of the General Assembly and the National Rifle Association, for helping get this done."

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday blasted Biden’s gun control plans as ''total federal outreach'' and promised to ''fight back.''

"It’s disappointing what is happening in D.C., the partisanship that the president is displaying,'' he said.

"Our way of life in Oklahoma is something that I’m going to protect," he stressed. "And so there is a lot of schemes going on and their ultimate goal is try to influence power and try to take rights away from citizens, and in Oklahoma we believe in freedoms and personal responsibility and that is what I’m going to stand up for as governor."

Biden earlier Thursday unveiled a raft of executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence and tightening firearm controls, including asking the Department of Justice to propose a rule to stop ''ghost guns,'' or homemade firearms that usually are assembled from parts and milled with a metal-cutting machine and often lack serial numbers used to trace them.

A second proposed rule will tighten regulations on pistol-stabilizing braces, like the one used by the Boulder, Colorado, shooter last month.

Speaking from the Rose Garden, Biden said: "No amendment to the Constitution is absolute ... From the very beginning, you couldn't own any weapon you wanted to own. From the very beginning the Second Amendment existed, certain people weren't allowed to have weapons. So the idea is just bizarre to suggest that some of the things we're recommending are contrary to the Constitution."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called the move a ''liberal power grab to take away our guns.''

''We will NOT allow this in TX,'' he tweeted. ''It’s time to get legislation making TX a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary State passed and to my desk for signing.''

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Biden’s actions ''won’t save lives or stop criminals.''

''I think it’s out of control and it’s obvious that they can’t get it through Congress and so he’s acting on his own,'' added Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. ''He’s doing it at a rapid speed. There has not been another president, I don’t think, in history that has implemented the number of executive orders that this president has implemented. And the hypocrisy of running as a uniter and a president that was going to bring both parties together and heal this country, he has done anything but that. He is continuing to divide the country and he’s doing it through these outlandish executive orders.''

Solange Reyner

Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.

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Politics
More than a handful of Republican governors have blasted President Joe Biden's gun control plans as total government outreach and some have defied his push with legislation of their own, according to reports. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday signed a new bill that would...
gop, governors, guncontrol, laws
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2021-08-09
Friday, 09 April 2021 10:08 PM
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