Rep. Greg Steube showed off some of his handguns at a Judiciary Committee markup hearing in which lawmakers debated Thursday the Democrats’ gun control package.
Mr. Steube, Florida Republican, beamed in from his Florida residence via Zoom video and criticized House Democrats for the series of gun laws they have dubbed the Protecting Our Kids package.
It includes bills that raise the federal age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21, restrict ammunition magazine capacity to 10 rounds, and require existing bump stocks to be registered while banning new bump stocks for civilian use.
However, existing magazines would be “grandfathered” and the proposed ban not applied to them.
Mr. Steube zeroed in on the magazine capacity limit and excoriated President Biden for suggesting 9mm handgun ammunition should be banned.
“Biden stated a 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body. There’s simply no rational basis for it in terms of thinking about self-protection,” he said. “So you can’t protect yourself with a nine mil I guess, according to Biden, and only a .22 [caliber] round ammunition would be sufficient.”
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Mr. Steube, who noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in San Francisco on Wednesday that Democrats introduced an “assault weapons” ban, began demonstrating how different magazine sizes would not fit into various handguns he owns.
“They want to take away law abiding citizens ability to purchase the firearm of their choice. And don’t let them fool you that they are not attempting to take away your ability to purchase handguns. They’re using the magazine ban to do it. Last year 2020 and 2021, the Glock 19 was the highest sold handgun in the United States,” he said. “It comes with a 15-round magazine. That gun would be banned.”
He continued, “right here in front of me, I have a Sig Sauer P226. It comes with a 21-round magazine. This gun would be banned. Here’s a 12-round magazine. This magazine would be banned. Under this current bill it doesn’t fit. Because this gun was made for a 20/21 round magazine,” he said and continued listing other firearms and magazines in front of him.
At one point, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Democrat, interrupted Mr. Steube and said of his demonstration, “I hope that’s not loaded.”
Mr. Steube responded, “I’m at my house. I can do whatever I want with my guns.”
The gun-control package proposed by House Democrats identifies “high-capacity” magazines as holding 10 rounds or more.
The proposed new restriction on ammunition magazines is part of the six-piece gun-control package that the House Judiciary Committee is marking up Thursday during an emergency meeting.
Democrats, who convened the Judiciary Committee while the rest of Congress takes the week off, pushed forward the legislation after 19 children and 2 adults were killed last week by an 18-year-old gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
The package is expected to pass the Democrat-run House but die in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans. House Democrats also say their bill will up the pressure on GOP senators to back some type of new gun laws.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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