By Brian Trusdell
Rep. Richard Hudson said last year’s record number of firearms sales in the United States was directly attributable to the Black Lives Matter riots and mayhem that engulfed American cities and resulted in at least 25 deaths.
Appearing on Newsmax TV Tuesday, the North Carolina Republican said it was not surprising that federal background checks exclusively related to the sale of firearms reached 21 million in 2020, a 60% increase over the previous year.
“Every night on Newsmax, I see cities burning,” Hudson said on “Spicer & Co.” “I see people looting and rioting. I see the “defund the police movement gaining steam. Of course law-abiding American citizens, fearful for the safety of themselves and their family, are taking legal measures to protect themselves. It just makes sense.”
“But you notice in the communities that have increased gun sales, you don’t have increased crime. It’s also true with concealed carry (laws). As you see more concealed carry permits in a state, we’ve actually seen crime decrease. And so, law-abiding citizens taking care of themselves is not a bad thing.”
Hudson’s comments came following his denouncement of two bills in the House of Representatives that would further restrict runs of gun owners, including one that would lengthen the waiting period to purchase a firearm from three days to 10 and give the FBI the discretion to indefinitely suspend the sale.
“By extending the wait period from three days to 10, but then allowing the FBI to hold it indefinitely, that, to me, is just very sinister, and very scary,” he said. “Because a future administration could basically stop all gun sales by using this new law. It’s terrible.
With one of the bills calling for “universal background checks,” Hudson claimed that the justification for the two bills, which Democrats say is to prevent mass shootings, is bogus.
“They sound reasonable until you realize the fact that every commercial gun sale in America today requires a background check,” Hudson said. “And neither one of these bills would have stopped a single mass shooting that’s occurred in this country. What these bills do is target law-abiding citizens.”
He said requiring the same background check for private firearms transfers is pointless.
“Because there is no harm done,” Hudson said. “There’s been no mass shootings because I sold a gun to Sean Spicer, or a friend of mine, or someone I know.”