Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Standing before a wall full of firearms at a press conference at Family Firearms in Troy on Feb. 21, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore announced the new bill he is introducing that would make the AR-15 the “National Gun of America.”

The AR-15 National Gun Act would place the popular semi-automatic rifle next to other American symbols, like the American Flag, that have been designated as such with bills passed by congress.

“The right to bare arms was so important to our founders that it was listed second in our Bill of Rights,” Moore said. “The radical left does not care about constitutional rights when it conflicts with their anti-second amendment agenda.

“Protecting our constitutional rights, all of our constitutional rights, is literally the job description of a congressman and I take that job seriously. It’s my job to protect your liberties and freedoms and I see that as my priority and why I do what I do.”

Moore said that his decision to make the announcement of the bill at Family Firearms was partly because he wanted to announce it in his district but also due to attacks he says that the current President, Joe Biden, is making on firearm businesses like Family Firearms.

“Second amendment rights are worth protecting and must not be infringed on,” he emphasized. “We need to send a message that we will meet every attack on our constitutional rights head on. The Biden Administration is skilled in using bureaucracy to restrict our rights.

“It isn’t just gun owners’ rights that are being attacked, it’s gun store owners, as well. The Biden Administration is doing all it can to restrict gun sales and drive folks like Family Firearms out of business.”

Family Firearms Owner Sonny Parker thanked Moore for being willing to fight for second amendment rights.

“Every day we are battling those in Washington who are trying to take away our second amendment rights,” Parker said. “We’re extremely thankful for a man like Congressman Barry Moore, who (is) willing to go to war for us and stand up for our second amendment rights and battle those that continue to take those (rights) away from us.”

AR-15 style rifles have come under fire in recent years or more – since the expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban – due to the firearm’s usage in a number of high-profile mass shootings in America, including the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

“For nearly two decades unconstitutional and un-American anti-gun groups have specifically targeted the AR-15 despite it being a cornerstone of American culture for over 60 years,” Moore said. “If a specific firearm is synonymous to Americana then it would be the AR-15. My bill, the ‘AR-15 National Gun Act,’ would simply write that into law designating that AR-15 style rifles chamber in .556 or .223 as the national gun of the United States.

“The AR-15 has been a quintessential piece of Americana for over six decades and this bill would recognize its most common configuration as our country’s national gun.”

Moore said that this bill was important because it was important to “send a message” to those that want to ban guns in America.

“The second amendment is as American a right as freedom of speech or religion or even the press,” said Moore. “We need to send a message to the American public that weakening the second amendment will likely increase the (chance) that other rights will be taken away. Second amendment rights are worth protecting and must not be infringed upon.

“Some pro-second amendment folks, who might not own an AR-15, might think that banning them is no big deal, but just like a camel sticking its nose under a tent, any watering down of rights already guaranteed will enable the anti-second amendment crowd to take away even more rights. These groups won’t stop until they stop all of the rights that we consider given to us by the constitution and our Creator. One rule to remember is that any government that would take away one right will take away them all. That’s why we are here, to protect all the rights you and I enjoy.”

The bill would need to pass through the House of Representatives and then the Senate before reaching the desk of the president to either be signed into law or vetoed.