Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446.

In this last week I received over 1,000 emails from constituents in strong opposition to these antigun bills. Here is a sample:

``H.R. 8 will make it impossible to sell or loan guns to my relatives and trusted friends.''

``These bills appear designed to impose restrictions on natural rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.''

And finally, ``Stand for our rights and oppose these measures with every tool in your grasp.''

I absolutely will fight these measures with every tool in my grasp. These rights protect my life, liberty, and property granted to me by God and cannot be taken away from me by D.C. bureaucrats.

I grew up in the Deep South at a time when Black Americans were unable to defend themselves. After the Civil War, Black Codes and Jim Crow laws prohibited people of color from owning firearms.

In the mid-1950s, Martin Luther King, Jr., kept firearms for self- protection, but his application for a concealed weapon permit was denied because of racist gun control laws in his State.

As a child, my dad witnessed an altercation between his father and a southern White man who thought my grandfather was being disrespectful and threatened to teach him a lesson. Later that night he drove up to my grandfather's home with a bunch of his friends standing on the forerunner of a Model T Ford.

My grandfather was prepared. He and his brothers had hidden around his front porch. As these bullies and cowards approached the house, they heard the click of rifles and left just as fast as they came.

Without ever firing his gun on another human being, my grandfather's right to own a firearm ensured his rights to protect his life, liberty, and property.

I urge my colleagues to vote against these anti-Second Amendment bills.

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