Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) announced his opposition to a Senate gun control bill that the House will likely address in the coming days. This comes at the same time that the Supreme Court has ruled against a New York law that violated the Constitution's 2nd Amendment.

"Without a hearing or the opportunity to offer amendments, the Senate's gun control bill falls well short of protecting students while also ignoring the rights of law-abiding citizens who own and use guns for personal protection and safety," said Rep. Estes. "Our focus should be on keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, securing schools, and enhancing mental health programs through enforcement of existing laws, continuing to fix NICS, and enacting real bipartisan solutions like the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act that passed the House 402-20."

On June 22, Rep. Estes voted in support of H.R. 7666 – the bipartisan Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act – that contains many mental health provisions included in the Senate's gun control bill. The legislation passed 402-20.

The Senate's gun control bill pushes state-level red flag programs without providing explicit due process requirements, appropriates billions of dollars for grants without guardrails, funds existing and new programs that have not been observed or thoroughly tested, and includes vague language that opens up Washington bureaucracies to interpret and expand the legislation.

Rep. Estes and congressional Republicans have supported common sense legislation to curb gun violence, like the Fix NICS Act of 2017, the STOP School Violence Act, and the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.