Former Rep. Allen West predicts the Obama Administration will fail to enact restrictive gun laws that buck the Second Amendment and believes the issue is more about people control than gun control.
“This is your gun control, this finger right here – your index finger,’’ West told Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.
“Nothing happens with that gun until you put that finger into the trigger well and you pull it. So my concern is that we’re not talking about the real issue, we’re talking about a political agenda.
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“I don’t [see Obama succeeding]. I think the president maybe believes he has some sort of populous mandate . . . but that’s not going to fly very well.’’
The Florida Republican, a retired U.S. Army colonel who’s a tea party favorite, said there is “big concern’’ across the country about Obama enacting an executive order to push through a firearms mandate.
“That’s not in contra, as we are a republic with co-equal branches of government, separate of power — so that’s what really concerns people,’’ West said.
The lawmaker said when he studied the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Virginia Tech, Columbine High School,
and a Colorado movie theater “the real commonality is . . . that there were parental problems, there was a mental issue.
“And I think that’s where we should start first and foremost.’’
West said members of the military, police, and civilians are strongly responding to the possibility of a White House intervention.
“You look at the state of Wyoming, which has already proposed legislation saying they will not allow any federal agent to come in and try to register someone’s guns or confiscates someone’s gun,’’ West said.
“And they’re talking about in the state of Wyoming making that a two-year penalty, a crime actually.’’
On the subject of the recent fiscal cliff deal, West said he did not agree with House Speaker John Boehner trying to cut a backroom deal with the president.
“The House should do its will,’’ West said. “The cutting of the deal and the negotiating is when the House passes legislation, the Senate passes legislation.
“If there are some differences, we call for a . . . committee of jurisdiction from both houses [to] come to together, and that’s where they hammer it out.’’
West said hopes that in the current fiscal negotiations, the debt ceiling will not be raised, but, “I don’t have a lot of trust and confidence because what I have seen is people always kick the can down the road and the American people have to demand better.’’
There are mixed opinions on what effect the raising of the debt ceiling would do to the nation’s credit rating, which some say would be downgraded and other say would remain status quo.
West isn’t sure there wouldn’t be turbulence.
“It’s an incredibly big concern because right now when you look at the net interest on our debt, it is based upon interest rates that are quite low,’’ West said.
“Eventually those interest rates are going to get raised and that net interest payment on our debt is going to go skyrocketing to the point where maybe most of the revenues that are coming in monthly are going to go to service the net interest of that debt.’’
Turning to national security and foreign policy, West is not comfortable with the nominations of Senators Chuck Hagel and John Kerry for Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State, respectively.
“I am not supportive of Sen. Hagel because, once again, you have someone that does not understand the nature of this 21st century battlefield,’’ West said.
“Anyone that is recalcitrant of declaring that Hamas, Hezbollah, the Iranian Republican Guards Corps as terrorist organizations, I don’t think that’s the right person to be the Secretary of Defense.
“And John Kerry has concerns. I have concerns about . . . really what type of foreign policy is he going to promote: a foreign policy of strength or foreign policy of appeasement?’’
West, who lost last November to Democratic newcomer Patrick Murphy in Florida’s 18th Congressional District, said he unsure what his next foray into politics will be.
“I have not made the final decision as far as where we’re going to go. A lot of options and opportunities out there,’’ West said. “That decision is coming pretty soon.’’
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