LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Jessamine County Republican Party is calling for the resignation of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell after he supported passage of what they called “dangerous and unconstitutional legislation” on guns.
In a censure document released by the party and sent to every other Republican Party in the state, the group condemns the longtime senator for his support of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
The legislation went into effect on June 25 and puts into place gun safety laws including extended background checks for gun purchasers under 21, clarification of Federal Firearms License requirements, funding for state red flag laws, and criminalization of arms trafficking and straw purchases.
The bill also expands the existing Medicaid Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic demonstration program nationwide for behavioral health services. It includes supplemental funding related to school-based mental health and safety, including mental health services, primary care training, and suicide prevention programs.
McConnell was one of 15 Republican Senators to support the legislation. According to the censure, McConnell was the only Republican member of Kentucky’s congressional delegation to support the bill.
The Jessamine County Republican Party, which “explicitly supports the Second Amendment and opposes gun control,” said the bill was unconstitutional and dangerous.
“Red flag laws are a dangerous violation of the Second Amendment and the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment’s right to due process,” the group wrote. “ ... Every major gun-rights group opposed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, including the NRA, Gun Owners of America, and the National Gun Association of Gun Rights.”
The county Republican Party said there was “no excuse for any elected Republican to work with Democrats to undermine Constitutional Rights.”
In addition to calling for his resignation, the group said it will “cease any and all support” for McConnell.
In remarks made on the Senate floor, McConnell said about the bill: “The American people do not have to choose between safer schools and the Constitution. And neither does the U.S. Senate. The American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. They want both of those things at once.”
He said this bill was exactly what could help accomplish that, making the country safer without making it any less free.
“The legislation before us would make our communities and schools safer without laying one finger on the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens. Its key provisions are hugely popular with the American people,” McConnell said.
In addition to their opposition to McConnell in the document, the Jessamine County Republican Party stated its support for Sen. Rand Paul and the five Kentucky Republican members of the House who voted against “the Democratic legislation.”
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