Exclusive — Rep. Richard Hudson: ‘Biden Administration Has Declared War on the Second Amendment’

Breitbart News spoke with Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) Tuesday and he exclusively revealed the “Biden administration has declared war on the Second Amendment.”

Hudson made this comment amid discussion about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ (ATF’s) recent rule on AR-pistol stabilizer braces and what he sees as a larger move toward sweeping regulatory gun control.

Hudson said, “Look at Biden’s latest budget proposal, which contains a staggering $1.9 billion to fund the ATF and that is a massive increase to the agency. So this rule on the pistol brace, I think, is just the beginning of plans they have.”

He then talked of how important it is for the Republican-led House to fight the assaults on the Second Amendment, saying, “It’s important that we stop them here.”

We asked Hudson if he believes the ATF is being positioned to go around Congress and establish regulatory gun control for years to come and he said, “I do.”

Biden plans to use an executive order Tuesday to move the country closer to universal background checks and other controls that Congress has refused to pass. https://t.co/uddg9pi1vY

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 14, 2023

He added, “Certainly the leadership of the ATF, I can’t say that about the folks that work over there, but certainly the leadership of the ATF seems to be perfectly aligned with this administration and they are enemies to the Second Amendment.”

Hudson then stressed that he and his colleagues in the House are going to use the Congressional Review Act and “give the Democrats an opportunity to either vote for freedom or vote with their leadership. If they choose the wrong path then we’re going to try to punish them at the ballot box.”

He talked of how the fight against regulatory gun control will be a campaign issue for Republicans if the Democrats side with Biden’s ATF instead of the American people, going on to predict, “We need a Republican-run Senate to go along with the House and we need to pick up seats in the House.”

Hudson then spoke directly to the ATF’s pistol brace rule:

This defies common sense. Back in 2021 I wanted to put a face on this issue, so we had the press conference where we brought in the combat-disabled veterans and let them talk about it. Because even on the ATF’s own website, where they describe these pistol braces, they say the point of them is to allow combat-disabled veterans to carry the weight of an AR pistol; to provide them stability. Yet here they are with this rule to try to treat it as short barrel rifle. It’s counter intuitive.

On June 16, 2021, Breitbart News reported Hudson’s efforts against the then-proposed pistol brace rule, highlighting his claim that the ATF’s push to require registration of AR pistols with pistol braces equated to a tax on “disabled combat veterans.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.