Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) believes a universal background check bill wouldn’t infringe on Second Amendment rights, but would actually expand those rights.
In fact, it’s “perfect” for the law-abiding gun owner.
“This basically not only protects your Second Amendment rights, it expands your Second Amendment rights,” he said.
The West Virginia Senator, one of the co-authors of the failed Manchin-Toomey Senate background check bill, went on Fox News Sunday this week to continue pushing a revised version of the legislation.
Manchin urged Americans to actually read the bill, claiming that anyone who read it would be in favor of it. Host Chris Wallace pointed out that Manchin had been using the same rhetoric before the vote on the background check bill that fell 54-46 in the Senate a week and a half ago. The West Virginia Senator maintained that there must have been “some confusion” among his colleagues.
“When people read the bill, if they just take time to read the bill,” Manchin said. “If you’re a law-abiding gun owner, you’ll love this bill.”
The Senator then doubled down on previous remarks, again implying that only criminals — or criminal sympathizers — wouldn’t support the bill.
“If you’re a criminal or if you’ve been mentally adjudicated through a court, you probably won’t like it,” he added. “What we’re doing, we don’t infringe on anybody’s rights, individual rights, transfers in families.”
Wallace pointed out that Manchin’s partner on the background check bill, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), said he was done with the legislation and wouldn’t continue fighting for it. Manchin it brushed off, saying that Toomey was not done with the bill.
“I don’t think he’s done, I really don’t,” Manchin said, adding that Toomey was “totally committed to the bill.”
