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Bernstine says 2 bills are attack on gun freedom

State Rep. Aaron Bernstine on Thursday said that he will launch a “parliamentary attack” on gun legislation that has cleared some procedural hurdles in the state House of Representatives.

The freshman House member said Thursday that he has filed 79 amendments to the two bills — House Bills 1872 and 2227 — in an effort to prevent the chamber from ever voting on the legislation.

“I will use any and all legislative tactics available to defeat these attempts to infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Bernstine said in a news release Thursday.

HB 1872 would outlaw rapid-fire bump stocks and other devices that allow semiautomatic weapons to fire faster. The House Judiciary Committee voted 14 to 13 on Wednesday to approve the bill, which would add “machine gun, accelerated trigger activator” to the state's list of banned offensive weapons. The list already includes items like grenades, sawed-off shotguns and spring-loaded knives.

A day earlier members of the committee also voted 18 to 9 to advance HB 2227. The bill would allow family members and law enforcement to file court protective orders to prohibit firearm possession by individuals judges deem to be experiencing suicidal or other dangerous tendencies.

In a release Bernstine lambasted both bills as unconstitutional.

“Legislation that chips away at our Second Amendment rights will never get my support,” he said, “and I'll do everything in my power to stop such attempts in their tracks.”

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