Anti-Gun Appeals Court Nominee Defeated

by Bob Livingston 
Last week was a big one for gun rights.
First, Caitlin Halligan’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia was defeated by a Republican filibuster. Halligan was one of the most anti-gun judicial nominees in recent memory, according to Gun Owners of America. The cloture vote failed 51-41, with only Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska breaking ranks with the Republicans.
GOA saw some more good news in the Senate Judiciary Committee, even though it passed S. 54, the Veterans Gun Ban. The good news comes in the fact that Republicans seem united against the bill, which makes a filibuster defeat “very achievable.”
As GAO notes, Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) spoke for all gun owners when he vigorously opposed the bill in committee, explaining that: “This bill would make it a serious felony [up to 15 years in prison] for an American Legion employee to negligently transfer a raffled firearm to a veteran who unknown to the transferor suffers from PTSD.”
According to GOA:

Although this legislative pile of bunk is wrapped up in a pretty package labeled “gun trafficking” (which is already illegal), the bill would (at its core) send you to prison for 15 years if you:
- Negligently sold two or more guns;
- Negligently gave a gun as a gift;
- Negligently raffled a gun.
What do we mean by “negligence”?  Well, 150,000 law-abiding veterans are currently barred from owning firearms, without any due process of law.  And any person who smokes marijuana — including medical marijuana — is prohibited from owning a firearm under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3).
So, if you sell a gun to any of these people, without realizing that they are subject to a gun ban, you can go to prison for 15 years.
Anti-gun Chairman Patrick Leahy did everything he could to cut off debate on S. 54 — showing clear irritation at any senator who dared to raise questions with respect to its provisions.
That said, seven of the eight Republicans on the committee voted against S. 54, the Veterans Gun Ban — Senators Jeff Sessions (AL), Jeff Flake (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), John Cornyn (TX), Ted Cruz (TX), Orrin Hatch (UT) and Mike Lee (UT).  They all deserve your support and thanks.
And the eighth, Ranking Republican Chuck Grassley, left open the possibility that he would vote against it on the floor unless it was amended.

Both Grassley and Murkowski need to hear from their constituents.