Gun ownership is a right and so is public safety. We can have both.
I support the Second Amendment. I grew up with guns. Hunting was one of my dad’s great passions. We grew up eating venison and always had ducks in the freezer from Dad’s hunts at his beloved duck camp in Cameron Parish.
I support the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms. I also support the court’s ruling that society has an important interest in promoting gun safety. Justice Scalia wrote that the Second Amendment “is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”
95% of Americans, including the majority of the NRA’s membership, support effective background checks on every person who buys a gun – not just those who purchase from a licensed dealer. Most Americans agree it should not be easier for a teenager to get a weapon than a driver’s license. Yet time and again politicians beholden to the gun lobby vote against the will of the people.
As a member of Congress, I will stand with the veterans and others in Congress who support restrictions on sale of assault weapons such as the AR-15.
I will also support banning extended ammunition clips and bump stocks that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns.
The answer to mass murders is not to put more guns in schools, churches and our streets. That is the solution of gun manufacturers. The answer is to pass reasonable gun safety regulations which recognize the difference between weapons for hunting and home defense, and weapons designed for human massacres.