Issue Position: 2nd Amendment

Issue Position

Issue Position: 2nd Amendment

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." However, during my tenure in Congress, gun control advocates in the House and Senate have proposed a number of bills to ban all handguns, expand the power of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to regulate firearms, prohibit certain purchases of firearms, and require registration or permits for the possession of firearms and all ammunition. I oppose all attempts to ban firearms and impose burdensome regulations or taxes on law-abiding citizens.

There are already tens of thousands of Federal, state and local gun laws on the books. The fact is, criminals do not obey the law. Five-sixths of repeat criminal offenders, who commit the vast majority of violent crimes, carry guns that were not obtained from a licensed firearms dealer. Washington, D.C., even has an outright ban on handguns, yet its crime and murder rates are consistently among the nation's highest. In addition, only 25 percent of the weapons used in violent crimes are firearms; the rest are knives, bats, cars—you name it. Our best means to combat violence is to focus on its root causes, rather than single out one of a myriad of weapons used to inflict it.

Let us also not forget that every year, on average, more than two million Americans prevent crimes against themselves and their homes because they have a gun. I have co-sponsored legislation that would authorize a person with a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one state to carry a concealed firearm in another state in accordance with the restrictions of that second state. I have also co-sponsored legislation and voted for an amendment that would exempt qualified law enforcement officers and retired officers from state laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed firearms.

Our Founding Fathers recognized that all Americans have a right—and a duty—to protect themselves and their families from violent criminals. That is no less true now than it was in 1789, and I will continue to vote against all attempts to erode this fundamental right.

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