Paul Ryan was the supposed star child of the Tea Party movement. During the presidential race I was told by numerous people that, while Romney wasn’t great, Ryan was a true small government advocate. Even today I’m being told that we wouldn’t have been suffering this current gun control debate if Romney and Ryan had won the presidential race because even if Romney would have been unreliable when it comes to protecting gun rights Ryan would keep him in line. As it turns out Mr. Ryan isn’t oppose to gun control:
Perhaps to the chagrin of the NRA and other gun rights groups, Ryan supported the idea of closing the inaptly named gun show ‘loophole’ so long as it doesn’t supplant one’s individual right to keep and bear arms.
“I think we should look into someone who is not legally allowed to buy a gun going to [a show], buying one, and let’s figure that out,” the congressman from Janesville said. “I think we need to find out how to close these loopholes and do it in such a way that we don’t infringe on Second Amendment rights.”
He iterated that the idea of requiring universal background checks was “very reasonable,” but as for details on how to make it pass constitutional muster, he said, “I don’t know the answer to how to make this work — that’s what committee hearings are for.”
Mr. Ryan has no issue with making private sales entirely illegal, in fact he believes such legislation would be very reasonable. So much for Ryan being the protector or liberty (not that I ever thought he was). Hopefully this ends the speculation that continues to be made regarding the current gun rights fight and how we wouldn’t be having it had Romney and Ryan gotten into office.