Andrew Clyde, a Republican Georgia Rep., slammed the House GOP leadership for threatening to prevent his pistol brace-focused bill from being brought to the floor of the House if he voted “no”.
Clyde made an exclusive statement for the Daily Caller in which he accused the leadership of holding Americans’ Second Amendment Rights “hostage” due to his opposition to a rule regarding legislation to increase the debt ceiling. Clyde claimed that unnamed House Republican leaders called him on Wednesday to tell him it would be difficult for him to get his Congressional Review Act Joint Resolution to the floor if he voted to overturn the debt ceiling rule. Clyde’s bill is a disapproval of the ATF’s pistol brace decision.
“I am deeply disappointed that the House Republican leadership has taken Americans’ Second Amendment Rights hostage as a result of my ‘no vote’ on the debt limit rule. They are not harming me by reversing the decision to bring the stabilizing brace to the House Floor next week. Instead, they are hurting millions law-abiding firearm owners, including disabled Americans and service-disabled vets, who face harsh penalties just for attaching a piece plastic to their weapon,” Clyde said to The Caller.
Clyde voted against bipartisan legislation to raise the debt ceiling of the United States twice.
“I came here to Washington to protect our constitutional rights, including our right of keep and bear arms. I did not come to cower before the swamp when things get tough. I will continue my fight to get H.J.Res. We will vote on 44 so that we can get closer to overturning the ATF’s unconstitutional rule about pistol stabilizing braces.
Aidan Johnston, Director of Federal Affairs at Gun Owners of America criticized the news, telling the Caller that it was “unconscionable” to use our God-given right as a bargaining tool in a back-room smoke-filled deal. Gun Owners of America could care less about ‘how the sausage is made’. If the rumors are true, then this is why our members sent us to Washington, D.C., in order to protect and restore the Second Amendment rights of their supporters without compromise.
“We fully support Congressman Clyde in his decision to vote according to conscience on the debt limit, and urge leaders to vote on H.J. Res. “We rushed through the 44th with a haste,” Johnston said.
On Wednesday, a Texas district court judge halted the Biden Administration’s new rule which would have charged gun owners who did not register their braced guns with a crime. The Texas judge’s ruling only applies to state employees and members of Gun Owners of America.
