The GOP’s Most Extreme Reactions to Obama’s Commonsense Gun Safety Plan
It’s not just NRA lobbyists that are reacting completely irrationally to the president’s commonsense proposals to prevent gun violence. Matt Drudge likened President Obama to both Hitler and Stalin. But some Republicans are now even going so far as to suggest impeaching the president. Unfortunately, some of them are members of the House and actually have the power to introduce articles of impeachment.
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Stockman plans to introduce articles of impeachment, calling Obama’s anti-gun violence efforts “an existential threat to this nation.”
Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL)
Following Stockman’s lead is Florida Congressman Trey Radel, who said impeachment “should be on the table” and falsely claimed that Obama wants an executive order to “ban guns.”
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX)
Gohmert, a Tea Party favorite who recently claimed an assault weapons ban would have to include hammers, charged that the president’s action is “illegal” and grounds for impeachment. “The American Revolution was all about fighting such a monarchy — and that is not what the Constitution anticipates. It’s not something a Constitutional president would do,” Gohmert lamented.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese (R)
Edwin Meese, former Reagan Attorney General and current Heritage Foundation official, is also taking up the call for impeachment. In an interview with Newsmax, Meese claimed Obama may have “really tried to override the Constitution itself.” Congress, he said, would have to take action, “perhaps even to the point of impeachment.”
Larry Pratt
The head of Gun Owners for America urged Republican lawmakers to stop being “spectators while the country is being torn apart” and impeach Obama. Pratt also attacked all gun safety laws as “the most pagan of paganism” because they assume guns and other “inanimate objects as possessing their own will.”
BOTTOM LINE: A majority of Americans — and gun owners — support sensible gun violence prevention measures. Instead of overheated rhetoric, it’s time for Congress to have a real debate about how we can protect our children and our communities from senseless acts of gun violence.
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