Louisiana Republican Congressman Mike Johnson, elected Speaker of the House Wednesday, is described as “a deeply conservative but lesser-known leader” by the Associated Press and Greensboro, NC News & Record, and a look at his record shows him to be squarely on the side of the Second Amendment.
According to NBC News, Johnson voted against Joe Biden’s “modest new gun law,” and his voting record “has earned him a lifetime rating of 92% from the American Conservative Union and 90% from Heritage Action.”
In November 2017, Johnson co-sponsored H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, issuing the following statement: “The constitutional right to keep and bear arms should not be confined by state lines. Our legislation ensures that law-abiding citizens who obtain a concealed carry permit are not denied their rights when traveling to other states. I am a concealed carry permit holder myself and will continue to support measures in Congress that preserve the Second Amendment.”
Earlier this month, he met with representatives of Women for Gun Rights, formerly known as the D.C. Project, posting a message on “X” (formerly Twitter), in which he reported, “It was great to catch up with the Women for Gun Rights representatives today to discuss the safeguarding of our Second Amendment rights.”
While action on the House Floor is stalled, constituent groups are still meeting on the Hill.
It was great to catch up with the Women for Gun Rights representatives today to discuss the safeguarding of our Second Amendment rights. pic.twitter.com/0jCEPyy4F0
— Rep. Mike Johnson (@RepMikeJohnson) October 17, 2023
In July, he was among the sponsors of the Preserving Rights of Tenants by Ensuring Compliance to (PROTECT) the Second Amendment Act. According to an announcement from his office on July 25, this legislation “would secure the Second Amendment rights of Americans who live in rental properties whose landlords receive financial assistance from the federal government. More specifically, this proposal ensures that landlords and rental property managers cannot unlawfully restrict firearm ownership of tenants.
“Tenants’ Second Amendment rights should not be subject to the whims of a landlord or property manager, especially those receiving federal assistance,” Rep. Johnson said at the time. “I will always fight back against any effort to unlawfully restrict our constitutional rights.”
All of this suggests gun owners have a friend in Johnson, which may become more important in 2024 when gun rights versus gun control is destined to become part of the presidential and congressional election cycle.
The Waco Herald Tribune describes Johnson as “A lawyer specializing in constitutional issues.” He is conservative enough to have gained the support of maverick Republicans who have kept the House in what some have described as “chaos” over the past 20-plus days since Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker.
The Second Amendment has been under attack since Biden took office in January 2021. He famously declared during a CNN Townhall broadcast that he wants to prohibit the sale of not only modern semiautomatic rifles but also 9mm pistols, probably the two most popular firearms in the country. The Second Amendment Foundation has used the video clip of him saying so as the centerpiece in a series of television advertisements for more than a year.
According to Fox News, Johnson picked up the Speaker’s gavel with 220 votes over the 209 cast by lockstep Democrat for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. If that vote signaled anything, it is that Democrats hold their ranks tight—much tighter than the majority Republicans—which could spell trouble for Johnson and his GOP caucus allies heading into 2024.
As reported Wednesday by TheGunMag.com, the three main contenders to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein are all anti-gun California members of Congress. All three—Representatives Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee—returned questionnaires to The Trace indicating they support so-called “universal background checks,” waiting periods on gun purchases, raising the minimum age for purchasing guns to 21 years, and support for a national “red flag” law.
While it may seem that gun rights and the Second Amendment remain intact on Capitol Hill, it is by the slimmest of margins, with Republicans controlling the House by a handful of votes, while the Senate remains under Democrat control.
Johnson was the fourth Republican nominee for the Speaker’s post. The Greensboro newspaper noted former President Donald Trump supports Johnson, which may, or may not, be to his advantage as the House gets back to doing the peoples’ business over the next few months.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
Many criticize the turmoil and “chaos” within the Republicans as they selected a new Speaker. Instead, people should take note of and praise the Republicans for being far more democratic in resolving an issue than the iron fisted tyranny employed by the Democratics.
Thank you, DIYinSTL you nailed my sentiments. Also, I am pleased that, using Dave’s description the “Mavericks” stood tall. Now we need to send them more Mavericks in 2024. 2 things came out of the midterm elections that produced the Maverick mentality, the voters did good and it shows with just a handful of dedicated, honest, do-what-they-said-they-would-do patriots with testicular fortitude, that includes some strong women in congress too, they can get things done. Please, help send them reinforcements in 2024. We really dodged a bad situation thanks to the Maverick’s, Tom Emmett or Jim “Trey” Jordan would have been… Read more »
Notice, only Republicans have mavericks (and personally, I’m glad they do), Dems almost never.
demoncrats would follow stalin off a cliff
A sure sign, how infused with leftist mindset are Democrats, the lockstep party line voting they exercise which never shows any diversity.
Seems there are very few in Congress who are not corrupt, compromised/controlled or Communist. I think Mike Johnson is one of the good guys. I hope he has a stomach for the what he’ll need to do.
Now, I want to see the new Speaker select a new Majority Whip, Tom Emmett will stab him in the back at every opportunity. We need someone with balls, a Tom DeLay type Whip.
fire bomb the house?
good example of how demoncrats stay united based on ideology. i cannot think of one of their pieces of legislation that has been passed that has truly benefited the American people as a whole.
DITTO
Time for congrees tp get to work for the American people and defund Biden’s bullshit and defund all the anti American unconstitutional alpha bet soup agencies
Good work. Fast and accurate.
Why thank you, Dean! Enjoyed sharing the podium with you at the Gun Rights Conference in Phoenix last month.
These stupid Republicans better get their priorities straight and quit infighting like a bunch of junior high cheerleaders. They bitch and moan about the alphabet agencies exceeding policy/rule making but they don’t defund or reduce their operating budget. My god what dumbasses….
The “House gets back to doing the peoples’ business” means getting back to wasting the people’s money and going into more debt to launder money overseas. I found it refreshing that they could not waste more money for a short period of time.
I do hope that the new speaker can stop some of the waste and help protect us from the democrats and the swamp.
Lets hope that the right decision was made and that he doesn’t get corrupted by the goodies he will be offered because of the position he is in. I cannot find anything on what he thinks about an AR and what was mentioned in this article I found 15 minutes after finding out he was elected with one exception. One difference I did read is that his bill for reciprocity was only for states that had concealed carry which is every state except Vermont. That change would be great because it would stop states like Oregoneistan and others from being… Read more »
I know nothing about the man but so far he sounds ok to me
Not “maverick republicans” MAGA republicans. And it was McCarthy causing mayhem see this exposé :-
https://rumble.com/v3rloms-rep.-gaetz-mccarthy-camp-sabotaged-mike-johnsons-speaker-vote-to-protect-dc.html
look at how so many misinterpret the term of “well regulated”.