Patriot Update

A letter from 40 members of Congress and directed toward House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) demanded a national gun buyback program yesterday. The letter was penned by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL). “Gun buybacks have proven successful in communities across the nation,” the open letter to House colleagues reads. “Adding $200 million to the final compromise on the fiscal cliff could remove as many as one million guns from our streets.” Such a step, said the Congressmen, would be a “simple, immediate step we can take to assure the public we are committed to taking meaningful action.”

The Democrats also argued that the gun buyback program would be a form of stimulus: “Distributing funding to the states to run buyback programs using prepaid debit cards with a three-month expiration date could provide a jolt to local economies that have stagnated in the wake of the recession and concerns over the fiscal cliff.”