Grassroots Advocates Influencing Pro-Gun Caucus will be Key to Its Effectiveness

By David Codrea

USA –  -(Ammoland.com)- Gun owner rights advocates are looking with hope to the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus, announced last Thursday by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

After eight years of Barack Obama in the White House, and after having narrowly avoided a Hillary Clinton presidency (assuming efforts to thwart Donald Trump’s confirmation by electors don’t succeed), gun owners have been anticipating a hard-earned opportunity to roll back some of the more egregious abuses and to actually enjoy some advances for the right to keep and bear arms.

True gains will depend on the effectiveness of the caucus. Much of that depends on who its members are, and if gun owners make their continued expectations known. To that end, the following table lists each member along with two important grades they’ve earned: one for gun owner rights as assigned by Gun Owners of America, and the other for their immigration rating by Numbers USA.

Despite “single issue” protests by some Second Amendment groups, “amnesty” and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens (and admissions of legal immigrants consistent with the Constitution’s purpose for government, “to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”) are inextricably tied in with the right to keep and bear arms.  That’s because of the overwhelming propensity of foreign transplants to support Democrats and “gun control,” threatening continued legislative and judicial gun protections. Not only does GOA have stricter grading criteria than NRA, it is the only group pledged to consider candidate immigration actions in its overall ratings.

Here’s how the caucus shapes up:

SECOND AMENDMENT CAUCUS RATINGS
Rep.	State	GOA Rating	NumbersUSA Rating	Notes
Paul Gosar	AZ	A+	A+
Ken Buck	CO	A+	A
Ted Yoho	FL	A	B
Jody Hice	GA	A+	A
Thomas Massie	KY	A+	B-
James Comer	KY	Not Rated	F-	Assumed office 14 November 2016; Too soon for a real rating
Justin Amash	MI	A+	B+
Mark Meadows	NC	A	A-
Warren Davidson	OH	Not Rated	B	Assumed office 6 June 2016; Too soon for a real rating
Scott Perry	PA	A	A-
Jeff Duncan	SC	A	A+
Brian Babin	TX	A	A+
Dave Brat	VA	A	A+
Alex Mooney	WV	A	B+

Note Comer and Davidson look problematic on the chart, due to sites not reflecting additions. Project Vote Smart shows GOA and NRA endorsements for Davidson, and Comer was endorsed by NRA. Likewise, Comer’s position on immigration has been laid out in pretty unequivocal terms.

Bottom line, it looks like a pretty good team (although team leader Massie could use some work on immigration). The task now is for them to actually do something so they continue earning those high marks. Let’s hope we don’t see preemptive true due-process surrenders on “mental health” and “no fly/no buy.” Let’s hope we see “Enforce existing gun laws” replaced with “Repeal existing gun laws.”

To help make that happen, the above chart has one other feature designed to let gun owners communicate with the caucus and make expectations known — links to their Twitter accounts embedded in each member’s name. True, you can still find and communicate with your representative “the old-fashioned way” via phone calls and filling out online forms (that weed out non-constituents). But these guys are supposed to be acting on behalf of all of us, not just residents of their districts, and if gun owners aren’t using all available tools, you can be sure gun-grabbers will be happy to occupy any ground ceded to them without a fight.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.

In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.