Rep. Mo Brooks signals openness to gun safety laws as long as they ‘don’t restrict 2nd Amendment rights’

GOP Rep. Mo Brooks said Sunday that he would only consider proposals about guns that guarantee Americans their Second Amendment right to bear and keep them.

Speaking out against the push for more gun restrictions in the wake of the Texas school shooting, Brooks said the Second Amendment ensures that people can take back power from a “dictatorial” government.

“The Second Amendment is designed to help ensure that we, the citizenry, always have the right to take back our government should it become dictatorial,” he said during an appearance on Fox News.

Host Sandra Smith had asked Brooks if he was open to changes being made to existing gun laws in the wake of last Tuesday’s mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

“As long as we enjoy un-infringed Second Amendment rights, then we don’t really have to worry that much about the government ever becoming dictatorial,” Brooks said. “But the moment that we take from our citizenry our ability to take our government back is the moment that the ability of dictatorial forces increases to the point where perhaps they will try to implement a dictatorial government at the federal level.”

The congressman — who is running for a Senate seat in Alabama — said that the idea of the government turning dictatorial was still “a fear today.” Brooks added that he would only consider proposals about guns that guarantee Americans their Second Amendment right to bear and keep firearms.

“If you’re talking about depriving people of their Second Amendment right to bear arms, well, first, that’s unconstitutional, so you’re going to have to address that with a constitutional amendment,” he said. “We’ll see how Congress and the states react to that kind of measure.”

Brooks also recalled a 2017 incident in Alexandria in which he was caught in the crossfire of a shootout at a baseball field. Citing his experience, he said that more needed to be done to “stop the motivation that causes these criminals, these horrific individuals, to do what they do.”

Other GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, have signaled their openness to a bipartisan debate on gun control. Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also signaled that he would be willing to work with Democratic lawmakers on gun safety legislation, but did not endorse any specific proposals.