Get Your Senators to Ask the Hard Questions of Loretta Lynch
Loretta Lynch — nominated to replace Attorney General Eric Holder — is making the rounds among Senators. She is schmoozing them and trying to win their votes with sugary one-on-one private meetings in which she says nothing.
But we know the drill. Eric Holder and Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan did the same. In the case of Sotomayor, Kagan, and now Lynch, they had a limited paper trail on guns, and professed to believe in the Second Amendment.
Then, the day after they were confirmed, they became our worst enemies. And it became pretty clear that they hated us — and the Second Amendment — all along.
There’s no absolute way to weed out lying anti-constitution nominees. But we need to do a better job than we’ve been doing.
For this reason, Gun Owners of America is asking Senators to force Lynch to go on record with respect to the legality of anti-gun actions by the Obama administration. Not to determine whether she agrees with the President, but to hear her views on the legality of his actions.
For instance, in some parts of the country the ATF is routinely copying all dealer 4473’s and bound book entries in connection with its routine annual inspection — thus creating a de facto national gun registry of law-abiding gun owners. And make no mistake about it: If regionally held records can be accessed in Washington by the push of a keystroke, it’s a national gun registry — prohibited by federal law.
Does Lynch believe this process is unlawful? If not, her disregard for the law makes her unqualified to serve as attorney general.
The Obama administration has tried to outlaw the importation of shotguns and ammunition. And it is being urged to ban the import of semi-autos, thus circumventing Congress’ decision to reject that ban. In the case of shotguns, the administration has argued that they have no “sporting purpose.” Huh??!!
Irrespective of whose signature was on that ban, we know the real “mover” was Eric Holder and the ATF.
And then there’s Operation Fast and Furious. Does Lynch have a problem with that?
Does she favor semi-auto and magazine bans?
What about ATF’s illegal efforts to register multiple sales of firearms? Or the administration’s efforts to financially strangle gun dealers and manufacturers by labeling them as “risky businesses” under Operation Choke Point?
All of these questions need to be answered. And, if Lynch refuses to answer them or answers them wrong, she needs to be opposed.
What about the argument that the defeat of Lynch keeps Eric Holder in place — given that he has said he would serve until she was confirmed?
It’s not an easy problem. But we see no moral way that Senators can vote for Lynch if she refuses to say whether she would abide by the law.
And, while Holder’s hatred of the law has pretty well discredited him, Lynch could still use the lame-duck Attorney General gig as a stepping stone for the Supreme Court.
ACTION: Contact your Senators. Ask them to vote against the confirmation of Loretta Lynch unless she fully and satisfactorily states that she will uphold the Second Amendment and gun owners’ rights.