Jeff Hulbert Patriot Picket
Courtesy Jeff Hulbert
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[ED: Earlier this year, when Maryland’s legislature was considering a range of new restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, a local group called Patriot Picket attended the committee hearings in Annapolis letting legislators know that they would not comply. Read our post on the the group and the anti-gunners’ resulting freak-out here. On Wednesday, Patriot Picket founder Jeff Hulbert attended the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the assault weapons ban bill currently being considered by Congress.]

By Jeff Hulbert

On Wednesday, I was ejected from the Federal Assault Weapons Ban hearings on Capitol Hill when I arose from the public gallery to declare that I and millions of other AR-15 owners WILL NOT COMPLY with attempts to confiscate our firearms. I was wearing our “We Will Not Comply” shirt that also showcases our Patriot Picket logo, along with the challenge “Come & Take It.”

I rose to my feet in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room to respond directly to the Assault Weapons Ban bill sponsor, Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline, after his blistering and distorted presentation about so-called “assault weapons”.

While I was speaking, the acknowledged gun-hating Congressman Ted Deutch rapped the gavel repeatedly. However, I managed to speak for about 45 seconds during the time the Capitol Police were attempting to eject me from the room.

Jeff Hulbert assault weapons ban patriot picket
Courtesy Jeff Hulbert

Below is the transcript of what the House Members heard more clearly than those behind me:

Congressman, I am here to testify on behalf of millions of American rifle owners!

AR-15s and other rifles like it are in “common use” in the United States, and are protected by the 2nd Amendment as described by the Supreme Court!

We will not comply with any of the Democrat Leftists….we will not comply with any efforts to ban or confiscate our legally owned property. We will not give them up! I speak on behalf of millions of owners who WILL NOT COMPLY with Radical Leftist plans to confiscate or ban our legally owned property!

This episode was captured in photos and on video thanks to my Patriot Picket team joining me in the gallery (as seen in links below). Also, my “outburst” and ejection were recorded on the live-stream C-SPAN broadcast of the hearings, with that link also listed below.

Jeff Hulbert Patriot Picket
A man in the audience is removed after disrupting a House Judiciary Committee hearing on assault weapons on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

This was not a spontaneous outburst, but a planned demonstration by me and my team that was put into motion within hours of the Democrats announcing their Federal Assault Weapons Ban hearings. We arrived more than three hours ahead of time to secure the first spaces in line.

While at the hearings, we were allied with the state representatives of the DC Project, a group of women from all 50 states who journey to the nation’s capital to lobby Congress about firearm rights. Our presence of more than a dozen prevented the anti-gun lobby from filling every seat in the gallery with gun haters.

Sitting beside me was legendary 2A plaintiff Dick Heller of Heller v. District of Columbia fame. He is pictured below, posing between me and my brother, Kevin Hulbert.

Jeff Hulbert, Dick Heller, Kevin Hulbert
Jeff Hulbert (L) Dick Heller (C) Kevin Hulbert (R) (Image courtesy Jeff Hulbert)

Here is the link to C-SPAN’s coverage of the full hearing (my ejection happens at the 1:29:58 mark):

Not long after I was ejected, the founder of the DC Project, Dianna Muller declared this from the testimony table as an invited speaker:

My goal here is to educate people. We are law-abiding, responsible gun owners and please don’t legislate the150 million people just like me into being criminals…..

….And like the gentleman that just got escorted out, I will not comply with the Assault Weapons Ban.

As the leader of the Patriot Picket, I chose to go to Capitol Hill to conduct what I call “citizen testimony” to counter the overwhelming onslaught of distorted, biased testimony brought forth by the paid lackeys for Michael Bloomberg, the Brady Organization, Moms Demand Actions and the other gun-confiscation groups. I have now switched from calling these organizations “gun control groups” because of the recent revelations nationwide that these groups are focused on confiscation, not just limitations on the 2nd Amendment.

You may find our Patriot Picket Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatriotPicket/

Our Patriot Picket web page is here: https://patriotpicket.org

Despite calls of some of the anti-gunners in the room to “Take him to jail,” I was not arrested, but treated with respect by the Capitol Police as they escorted me from the Rayburn Building.

It is my hope, and the hope of my fellow crew members in the Patriot Picket that demonstrations like this will energize my fellow firearms owners—and especially those owning what the gun haters call “assault weapons”—to speak up and speak out whenever they encounter people who want to confiscate or ban our firearms. We must not allow firearm opponents to chip away at our rights and certainly not allow them to take them in violation of the 2nd Amendment.

 

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58 COMMENTS

    • Good job indeed , Harrisburg Pa. gun rights supporters were just ” removed ” while waiting to see hearings. They were ejected to make room for a more P.C. group , escorted by police.

      • Wait. I was there, also. We were removed from that hallway because some in our large group were shouting down the rally being held in that same hallway by Ceasefire PA. Afterwards, the Capitol police let us into the hearing room BEFORE the folk from Ceasefire PA because we had been there first.

        I heard several in our group compliment the Capitol police because they were fair to us.

        Did I miss something?

      • I heard a great deal of “Will not comply” in Harrisburg. Proud of the large and dedicated turnout. We filled the meeting room and the overflow room and had a large presence on the Capitol steps all day.

        • One guy from……FallenLeader’s or Longcall’s group (PAFOA screen names) was taken out in zip ties as they were pushing us back. He had done nothing and was released but not allowed to reenter the capital building. Wife and I got into the hearing but it was standing room only. We were in the back with PAFOA member LifeinPA. We had to bug out about 1415 as my wife was not feeling well. She has some health issues that aren’t major but are frequently incapacitating.

          Complaints are being filed. That hall is not the place for a press conference. Press conferences are to be held in the rotunda or on the steps.

          CeasefirePA also got escorted to the front of the hall for that press conference while we were all waiting in line.

          But we (gun owners) owned the hearing room, and the 3 overflow hearing rooms where people were placed to watch the hearing on TV.

          Video is on PAFOA and should be on State Senator Lisa Bakers web site.

          Speakers included attorney Josh Prince, John Lott, Kim Stolfer, and others.

          It was good meeting you Lifesavor. I hope to see you at future events.

        • Crimson,

          Did not see the zip ties incident. Must have happened in back of me; I was way up front, one of the first to arrive.

          We were laughing about how the Ceasefire people were requesting police escorts to get to their gathering place. Prior to that, I saw no one block the Ceasefires as they walked through the our crowd. Maybe it happened, but not anywhere near me.

          It was a great showing for PA gun owners. We all arrived on our own, using our own vehicles and our own money. We were not bused in.

          When I saw our numbers, I opted not to go into the room. We had it covered; sunshine, fresh air, and the ability to meet people and have conversation appealed to me.

          I hope your wife is feeling better!!! And I hope the next time we can get some time to talk.

        • We were further back, just down the steps further up the hall, by where Josh Prince and most of the FOAC officers were. It was the guy in the red shirt about 7 or 8 seconds into the video that got taken out. I don’t know him but one of the guys on PAFOA said it was a guy from his group.

          Prior to the capital police muddling us up as they pushed us back, there had been a path left down the middle of the crowd. The ceasefires came through that with no interference from our side and no heckling that I heard, but capital police were escorting them.

    • Meanwhile on Morning Joe ( MSNBC ) state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, Dave Aronberg, stated that their red flag law is used 5 times a day to confiscate firearms from civilians.
      So far not one single “patriot” has been reported to have offered even token resistence against this government over reach.
      It’s even on Aronberg’s twitter feed.

      I hope you guys have bigger balls than the latest victims ( I highly doubt it ) because COMPLIANCE is the the current status quo.

      • “…because COMPLIANCE is the current status quo.”

        Funny that, eh? Law abiding citizens obeying the laws, however unjust. Shame we can’t get the other side to do the same.

        As for me, I’m too old to give another inch.

  1. Excellent work, wish this exchange would have been broadcast on every major news network (wishful thinking, I know).

    The “take him to jail” remark may as well have been “take him to the gas chamber”. We know that’s what they really want.

  2. Proud to have had the chance to stand with you in Annapolis in the past. Lessons learned from the Patriot Picket and other pro 2A groups in Maryland are coming in handy in my new Texas home. Thank you for all you do!

  3. Not a peep on national media. I wonder why? This movement must grow, but quit focusing on the AR-15. There ate lots of out here that will be affected that own rifles other than an AR.

    • That’s true. Millions of other rifles that are far deadlier than the black guns, and at much longer ranges. AR’s/AK’s are just the low hanging fruit that the Dems/left are tossing out to stampede the sheeple. If they can ban/confiscate those, they will work thru every other make and model until they’ve got everything including your childhood bb gun.

  4. My initial reaction – sense of the matter – was to wonder whether this demonstration’s lack of decorum could be counter-productive. Perhaps it might be. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be “non-violent resistance” or what we might dub “non-violent non-compliance”.

    The public will recognize the contrast between Antifa-types welding truncheons vs this Patriot Picket demonstration. No blocking traffic. No shouting-down of a speaker granted the floor. Just a 45-second outburst that was out-of-order. Points out that we will be heard even if we are ignored.

    What’s our alternative? Will we go gently into that good night? Will we accept gracefully the rare occasion where we are granted leave to speak? Seems like these Patriot Picket folks are stepping-up our game in as graceful a way as possible so as to persuade the voters to recognize that we have something to say.

    • I though this as well considering how unhinged many of the Left leaning types are while being removed.

      Generally I’d say he’s more restrained about it. Not sure how it plays since I doubt it will get play.

      Funny how the Lefties say things about jail but if you suggested that the Don’t Taze Me Bro! guy should have gone to jail… well, how dare you infringe on his right to say things we agree with!

      Ultimately I don’t have an opinion on this guy doing this because the proposed AWB is like the dead gangsters in the alley from Boondock Saints, going nowhere.

  5. You may find our Patriot Picket Facebook page here:
    [hyperlink omitted for clarity]

    Not for long.

    Our Patriot Picket web page is here:
    [hyperlink omitted for clarity]

    Again, not for long.

    Because Patriot Picket is a “deplorable” organization whose members are “deplorables”, you can count on all the people who have authority over the Internet (including specific websites) to squash them and their message sooner rather than later.

  6. everyone worried about “being put on a list” for saying they will not comply is part of the problem. Gun owners need to wake up, neither party is interested in the second amendment. Public officials need to hear just how many people they are going to have to deal with not complying, the more that come out and acknowledge publicly that they will not comply the better.

    • We figured this out in Australia in the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. The post Port-Arthur bans and buyback occurred at the direction of a conservative but populist prime-minister. Previously is was the left-to-middle side of politics that advocated bans and restrictions on firearms.

  7. Don’t forget, Diana Muller was allowed to testify and reinforced what Hurlbert said. That was effective tactics if could get in front of the general public, but don’t count on It. In the meantime; refuse to comply!

  8. The other day I was talking to a guy who thought there should be a “reasonable” accommodation that would keep “assault weapons” out of the hands of private citizens. He thought they were “weapons of war” and not useful for hunting “as the 2nd Amendment intended”. I got the usual “You don’t really need . . .” arguments along with the usual magazine-limit arguments—this from a guy who also claimed that he was a 2nd Amendment supporter. He wasn’t, of course, not really.

    These kinds of arguments are not really about ARs or AKs, not about 30 round magazines. What they are actually about is changing the meaning of the 2nd Amendment. If gun-controllers can make enough “reasonable” limitations on gun-ownership they will eventually remove the fundamental 2nd Amendment intentions for the existence of an effective armed citizenry. I think a reckoning over the 2nd Amendment is coming—has to come—where the Supreme Court has to declare that the 2nd Amendment is unambiguous about what “. . . keep and bear arms . . .” means.

    • There are an estimated 10,000 – 20,000 Federal and State laws which have been enacted over the past 200+ years targeted at infringing on the civilian ownership of arms.

      I suggest instead applying it to other rights. Do you need to pray for more than 10 minutes a day? Maybe something that says an organization can only assemble at most once per 30 days? Or maybe, if you want to vote, you need to pay $200 and pass a background check. How about “No Fly, No Right to A Fair and Speedy Trial”

      Suggest these instead, because if those aren’t reasonable, then neither are they when applied to “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms”.

  9. I guess I’m going to be the only negative comment in this thread, but I feel I do have to share it.

    First, though, let’s put ourselves on the opposite side of a position (any position). How do we respond to, say, the “Code Pink” women when they begin to shout and hold up banners during congressional hearings. If we’re honest, I’m quite sure that those of us who disagree with them look at them as a bunch of unhinged loons, and are happy to see them pulled out by police.

    MY QUESTION: Do their nonsensical outbursts make you want to consider their anti-war position? Does it make you think “Gee, maybe they have a point so I need to start supporting them!” I truly doubt it! If nothing else, it makes you entrenched in your own opinion by seeing just how maniacal the other side is.

    So other than making pro-gun people “proud,” what impact does his inappropriately shouting out at a congressional hearing really have on changing minds? Absolutely nothing positive, other than to reinforce the idea that people with guns are “unhinged!”

    As I was watching the hearing and he began shouting, I was really hoping it was going to be some fruitcake anti-gunner. But no, it was one of us.

    There are functional ways to protest and dysfunctional ways. This method does nothing for our cause but hurt it!!

    • Right on. Walk softly and carry a big stick. TR said that. The big stick we carry is the VOTE. Let them know their not going to get it. Calmly and quietly.

    • Tell me which moon bat lefty protester was removed from Congressional hearings for speaking up against infringement of a natural right? Hint, those removed from the Kavanaugh hearings don’t count.

    • I disagree that this sort of protest hurts our position, and also with the statement that standing proud changes no minds. There are very large numbers of people who oppose the dilution and ultimate removal of our rights. Many of them are intimidated by violent response to anything Conservative, especially when their position is “outed” to their friends and co-workers. The Leftist echo chamber desperately needs to hear that their position is actively disputed, and those whose only recourse is an often diluted vote.

      Believe me when I say that I’ve been approached by a number of individuals whose outward appearance is mainstream suit & tie, who have told me that they are grateful that someone will stand up to the bullying from the Left. They admit that they cannot do so, as their livelihood is at risk, as well as, in some cases, their families. These folks need and deserve a voice. The media will not provide it, so it needs to be presented in a public forum where it can’t easily be censored or hidden by algorithmic deception.

      The Conservative side has played by civilised rules, and is vilified and attacked, verbally and physically. Now and then it becomes necessary to petition the government o for redress of grievances. Jeff Hulbert has done so, directly and to their faces. His actions have in past provoked positive responses from lawmakers in his home state of Maryland, despite all the cringing by those who feel that it’s best to politely be herded into metaphorical cattle cars en route to disarmament.

      • I’m not saying that protests are wrong – what I’m saying is that they need to be strategic, thoughtful, and designed to achieve a specific outcome. Again, think about how you react to groups you don’t agree with when they disrupt meetings, block traffic, block sidewalks, etc. I’m sure that none of us react the way they would like us to!

        Our enemies on the Left already assume we are deranged and unhinged because, after all, who in their right mind would want something that can kill multiple people! And THAT’S the image we want to change.

        The best strategy we can come up with is one where we can create town-hall type events where we can discuss and debate the realities of our position and the dream-state of the opposition. We can write letters to the editor in newspapers in our area proposing positive images of gun owners and proposing ideas that will likely work compared to theirs that only impact lawful users. And above all, our image needs to be clean and responsible; not like the crazy people who make spectacles of themselves by making a lot of noise – just like the ones do that we disagree with.

        The Bible says we should be “smart as a serpent and gentle as a dove.” I think we sometimes get that backwards.

        • Agreed. We need to keep focusing on the positive uses of guns and that they save 2.5 million lives per year. Keep hammering this home.

        • Re: Jeff @ Sept 29

          By all means persue all the modes of advocacy . Patriot Picket members , associates, and allies certainly do , and encourage everyone to express their views as many different ways as they can .

  10. Btw, gun owners out number non-gun owners according to census data and ATF and FBI statistics. Assuming they all suport the 2cnd amendment. But we all know what assume does.

  11. Thanks to you, sir, and pass my thanks on to the women from The DC Project as well.
    Somebody needs to be up there telling the truth, because despite the media claiming that the overwhelming majority of people support “tighter restrictions”, they never mention that once people find out what that really means, public support for the idea mostly disappears.

  12. “Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party.” MAO ZEDONG

    Sound like anyone on this committee?

    Mao Zedong was #1 on the population killer hit parade of the 20th century, Hitler was just #3. He disarmed China after WWII then his policies lead to the deaths of up to 20 million of his fellow countrymen. Some estimates are higher but you don’t hear much about his atrocities for fear of offending the Chinese!

    The currency of politics is power. Beware of politicians that want to take away your last ditch means of resistance to THEIR policies!

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