By: Anthony Morelli
No one realized how much impact Matt Gaetz dropping out might have.
But it could end up leading to more gun control.
And now people are starting to get concerned.
Despite his many flaws, Matt Gaetz was a fairly consistent vote for the Second Amendment while he was a member of Congress.
He even took it on himself to introduce a bill to abolish the ATF altogether, which was a very welcome move for gun owners across America who have been pushing for this for many decades.
Now it appears that he will be off the political map altogether, as he not only removed himself from consideration for attorney general but resigned from Congress completely and permanently.
His replacement for A.G. is Pam Bondi, also a Floridian, who served as the state’s attorney general for multiple terms.
Bondi, however, is a bit different than Gaetz in the sense that her record on the Second Amendment is not nearly as strong.
She has an unfortunate track record of supporting some things that won’t make gun owners very happy, and there will certainly be questions at her confirmation hearings about whether she still supports these things.
According to The Reload, “After initially tapping embattled former Florida House member Matt Gaetz (R.)—who withdrew from consideration just a few days after being proposed—President-elect Trump named Pam Bondi to replace him. Bondi served two terms as Attorney General of Florida from 2011-2019, where she championed some stricter gun laws but also occasionally fought against others.”
With a Republican administration taking office, gun owners are expecting more than “occasionally” fighting against stricter gun laws.
They are going to want someone who is a consistent fighter for the Second Amendment and for protecting their freedoms.
The article continues, “Perhaps most consequentially, Bondi was in office in Florida in the aftermath of the 2018 Parkland school shooting.”
“Trump invited Bondi to the White House a week after the attack as part of a gathering of local and state officials to discuss gun violence and school safety. She was the first to speak and said her office was crafting a ‘gun violence restraining order’ designed to remove firearms from individuals thought to be at risk of harming themselves or others. She called the state’s existing civil commitment law, which could accomplish the same goal, ‘weak’ and said she directed her staff to craft a version of a so-called red flag law.”
The fact that she supported something like this is unfortunate and concerning, and senators who are supportive of the Second Amendment should grill her on it during her confirmation hearings.
Bondi is going to have to answer to gun owners about whether she will protect their freedoms or chip away at them.
Guns may not be Donald Trump’s top issue that he cares about, but they certainly are a huge deal to millions of the people who voted for him.
And he is going to want to be careful to choose nominees who are not hostile to the Second Amendment.