MILWAUKEE — Republicans speaking at a concealed carry event on Tuesday, just days after a gunman attempted to kill their presidential nominee, insisted the party won’t change its stance on Second Amendment rights.
Attendees at the one-hour session, hosted by the U.S. Concealed Carry Association near the Republican National Convention, weren’t actually able to conceal carry any firearms, since it was held inside a Secret Service security checkpoint.
But those in attendance heard from Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita and three members of Congress about what the plans will be for gun rights should they sweep Congress and the White House during November’s elections.
“I think what we’ll see is a continuation of supporting and defending the Second Amendment and where that really comes into play is the judiciary, the appointment of judges,” LaCivita said. “And so that is clearly, you know, one of the largest impacts that President Trump had clearly during his first term was a remake of the judiciary.”
Florida U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, speaking with reporters after the event, said that the GOP was “absolutely not” considering changing its support for Second Amendment rights. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday was injured by a gunman at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One person was killed and two others were injured. The shooter was killed at the scene.
I think what we’ll see is a continuation of supporting and defending the Second Amendment and where that really comes into play is the judiciary, the appointment of judges.
– Chris LaCivita, Trump campaign senior advisor
“I stand 1,000% convicted in the fact that the Republican Party will always stand for the Constitution and the Second Amendment and our right to bear arms,” Cammack said. “One deranged individual, who clearly needed help, he is not going to change the United States Constitution and our right as Americans to bear arms. Absolutely not.”
Cammack said it is “shocking” and “inappropriate” for any lawmaker to call for changes to gun laws in the wake of “tragic events” like mass shootings. She criticized Democrats for not making similar comments following the Trump shooting.
“The thing that has been really shocking to me, is you see right after tragic events, many politicians and pundits come out and they say, ‘This is the time to have the discussion about gun control’ when clearly… that’s not appropriate,” she said.
“In this case, I have gone through and seen the messaging of some of my colleagues, and I don’t see those same calls for gun control in the aftermath of this incident,” Cammack added. “So it makes me think that there’s a bit of a disingenuous attitude on some of the remarks that they’ve been making.”
Hunters, gun owners
During the panel discussion, Cammack said Republicans need to talk to the 10 million hunters and gun owners throughout the country who are not registered to vote to ensure they change that and go to the polls in November.
“That is a missed opportunity for us as 2A advocates to make sure that we are actually doing the work to secure that victory, because we cannot turn the corner into January and start talking about how we’re going to do national reciprocity, if we don’t have the votes,” Cammack said.
A nationwide concealed carry reciprocity law would likely require a state with stricter concealed carry laws to recognize an out-of-state concealed carry permit.
USCCA writes on its website that “(r)eciprocity simply means a concealed carry permit or license is valid beyond the issuing state.”
“States may have full reciprocity, recognizing all out-of-state permits, or partial reciprocity, specifying agreements with select states,” the website states, referring to state-level laws. “The negotiation and recognition of these agreements depend on the willingness of states to cooperate. Whatever the agreement, carriers must follow the laws of the state in which they are carrying, and those may be different from the issuing state. “
Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald said during the panel that gun rights advocates must pay close attention to lawmakers at the state and federal level, since changes to gun ownership laws are generally incremental and not sweeping.
“I think that, you know, we have to be diligent as legislators that protect the Second Amendment to say, ‘No, wait a minute, you know, this is a constitutional guarantee right,’” Fitzgerald said. “So you can continue to pass bill after bill after bill with some cute type of name that would lead people to believe that it’s about security. But we have to be diligent.”
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