In The CNN Debate, Did Jeb Bush Torpedo His Relationship With Gun Owners?

by Bob Owens: Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush may have hurt his credibility with gun owners during the 3+ hour Republican Debate last night. Katie Pavlich of Townhall noticed it immediately.



So what precisely did he do? AWR Hawkins at Breitbart News chronicles Bush’sdisastrous answer.During the September 16 GOP debate, host Hugh Hewitt asked Jeb Bush if he supported states confiscating guns when a family member expresses concern about the mental state of a particular gun owner. Bush said he not only supports it but that “we need to encourage that kind of involvement.”

Jeb Bush’s only stipulation was that a judge needs to sign off on the confiscation before it takes place.

Here is Hewitt’s exact question: “If a family member calls and says my child, my brother, my sister is disturbed, ought the state be able to go and get their weapon without a hearing?’”

Bush’s exact response: “I think there needs to be hearing, but the fact is, I think we need to encourage that kind of involvement.”

This is the very path California took after the May 2014 Santa Barbara attack in which Elliot Rodger stabbed and killed three people then shot and killed three more. Democrats then pushed through “Gun Violence Restraining Orders” (GVRO) and Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed them into law in September 2014.

The GVROs work just the way Jeb Bush outlined by opening the door for a friend or relative—or disgruntled former friend or spouse—t0 seek a GVRO against a certain person and, with judicial consent, have that person’s Second Amendment rights suspended and their guns confiscated.No one, and I mean no one, wants the dangerously mentally ill to be able to harm themselves or others with firearms, but encouraging the state to confiscate someone’s firearms on hearsay claims, without being aware of the process in place against them, and without recourse until after the fact, is very alarming.

Jeb Bush is not a gun owner, and failed to counter the deceptive claims of Stephen Colbert made about the NRA and mental health checks last week.

He’s going to have to “clarify” his position, and soon.
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Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com. A long-time shooting enthusiast, he began blogging as a North Carolina native in New York. His personal blog is bob-owens.com, and he can be found on Twitter at @bob_owens.

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