An important segment of last weekend’s Conservative Action Political Conference, virtually overlooked by the media, featured U.S. Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), telling the audience that gun control is not about public safety, but about public control.
Mills, who was elected to office in 2022, came out swinging, referring to the text of the Second Amendment, which he said “cannot be clearer.”
He accused the administration of mounting a “multi-pronged attack” on our liberties. The administration is allowing open borders while at the same time pushing for more laws and regulations that will not be obeyed by criminals who are already violating existing laws. These restrictions prevent U.S. citizens from protecting themselves from criminal harm, he suggested.
A self-described constitutionalist, Mills—who served with the 82nd Airborne—told the audience, “This is not about policing, it’s about politics. They are trying to do everything they can to weaken the American people to make us dependent upon the administrative state.”
The 18-minute segment, headlined “Shooting from the Hip,” was moderated by Carl Higbie, host of Frontline, with Newsmax. Turning his attention to Gottlieb, who serves as executive vice president of SAF, Higbie inquired about legal actions challenging gun control laws in the wake of the 2022 Bruen ruling.
Right now, Gottlieb disclosed, SAF has a whopping 59 cases filed against gun control laws across the country, from one coast to the other. He pointed specifically to lawsuits against laws in Connecticut and New York, observing that some states have adopted gun laws as a means of “thumbing their nose at the Supreme Court.”
“I expected after Bruen they would pass laws that would be a little less restrictive…to see what they could get away with,” the veteran gun rights leader observed. “They didn’t do that. They doubled and tripled down and passed laws that are worse.”
He reminded the audience that days before the CPAC event, the Hawaii Supreme Court handed down a ruling in a gun case which said the “Aloha spirit” essentially outweighed the Second Amendment. The bizarre ruling is almost certain to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
SAF currently has two cases asking certiorari before the Supreme Court, in Maryland and Illinois. Both challenge bans on semi-auto rifles and so-called “high-capacity” magazines. The court has not announced yet whether it will take either case for review.
A few moments later, Gottlieb bristled as he commented about the left’s gun control crusade.
“It is so blatantly political, their agenda of socialism and controlling people’s lives,” he stated. “I mean, gun control isn’t about controlling guns; it’s about controlling people. That’s what their agenda really is. Facts, figures don’t matter to them. All they care about is taking away our rights.”
Higbie, who served as a Navy SEAL for nine years, had a solid grasp of the current political environment.
“You look at all of these mass shootings that are happening recently,” he noted. “Most of them happened in Joe Biden’s gun-free zones that he was the original architect of…The top ten most dangerous cities are Democratically-held cities, some in Republican states.”
Elsewhere during the discussion, Mills acknowledged he would like to abolish the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The remark drew applause from the audience.
All three men concurred that Democrat gun control efforts have resulted in more gun sales. Gottlieb noted how high-profile crimes, terrorist attacks, and other domestic factors invariably result in increased firearms sales.
Higbie observed, “Democrats are the greatest gun salesmen. Every time a Democrat comes into office, they actually help drive those numbers up.”
The discussion wrapped up with Mills and Gottlieb reminding the CPAC audience about media bias against reporting stories in which law-abiding citizens have used firearms, including semiautomatic rifles, in self-defense.
“They only report on mass shootings when it fits a certain narrative,” Mills said about the media, calling it “fake news.”
“What they want to do is to not vilify the actual criminal who is committing an act which is obviously illegal,” he said, “they want to criminalize our ability to hold arms.”
“It’s such a one-sided debate with the national media, which carries the agenda for the gun ban movement it’s actually disgusting,” Gottlieb said.
“This is about them controlling the message,” Mills added, “and we can’t allow that. We have to be louder. Utilize your platforms…We have to control the narrative. We have to control our ability to hold our own rights.”
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.
