Where I Stand
As a hunter and target shooter, I know well the enjoyment that can come with responsible use of firearms; as a health care professional, I know the harm that can come from irresponsible or illegal use of firearms; and as a member of Congress I am sworn to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Based on the Second Amendment, I strongly believe law abiding citizens have a fundamental constitutional right to own firearms and the government has a responsibility to protect that right. I also believe that the people who manufacture, sell and use firearms have a responsibility to ensure they are used safely and responsibly. That is why I have emphasized a common sense approach that respects gun rights, but also calls for reasonable gun safety and responsibility.
A Return to Reason
I believe we need a return to reason when it comes to gun rights and responsibilities. When I was growing up, organizations like the National Rifle Association were dedicated to hunter safety and education and marksmanship training. In those days we respected guns and we used them to feed our families and for recreation. We did not worship guns, we did not base our entire political judgments on gun issues at the expense of jobs, education, health, the economy etc., and we did not see a need or reason, apart from collecting, to own fully automatic weapons, “street sweeper” shotguns, or other such firearms.
Most people accepted that if you wanted to own a firearm you should have training, but then the training was provided by a parent, a school program, scouts, or some other organized group. No one I knew who hunted would want to be in the woods or at a shooting range with someone who was not properly trained in safety, and most serious hunters and gun owners at the time rejected and stayed clear of the “macho” or “cowboy” types who waved their guns around or made threatening comments. The true cowboys in our town, the guys who worked on cattle ranches and in the mountains, respected guns as tools of their work, but they would have been the last to be boastful or threatening with them.
Things have changed in the last couple of decades and by and large they have changed for the worse. While I think most responsible hunters and gun owners still hold the values and attitudes that existed when I was young, we also see bumper stickers with pictures of pistols pointed at the driver behind, we read of drivers killing each other over perceived slights on a roadway, and we hear overheated rhetoric about the government wanting to “take away all your guns” so they can install some kind of totalitarian state.
While I strongly defend the rights of our citizens to own firearms and will defend that right in Congress, I believe that this new attitude of anger and fear toward fellow citizens and toward the government is unnecessary and harmful to our country. It may make for effective fundraising and political rhetoric for interest groups, but it contributes to a society of fear and violence that is much different than the community I was raised in and most people want their children to live in.
While protecting the right to keep and bear arms, I believe the interest of public safety demands that we must keep guns out of the hands of criminals and we must take reasonable and responsible measures to ensure that unsupervised children do not have access to firearms. I also believe that certain firearms, such as fully automatic weapons intended for military use, should not be available to the general public except under very specific conditions and qualifications. This is not unreasonable and it is a far cry from a despotic government wanting to take away the rights of its citizens.
I would encourage people on both extremes of this issue to consider a different perspective. Those who live in fear of all guns need to understand that when guns are used and gun safety education is provided as it was when I was a youth and still is in many parts of this country today, guns are not necessarily any more dangerous than an automobile, a gallon of gasoline, or countless other items that can harm people if used improperly or for malicious purposes. At the same time, those who put threatening stickers on their trucks, who say the only issue they care about in politics is “gun rights,” and who make extreme claims about our government being a totalitarian state, have lost sight of a whole host of other priorities and have wildly exaggerated the “threat” posed by gun safety legislation.
I recognize that my position on this issue may not please people on either extreme of this issue, but it is based on reason, experience, common sense, and a recognition that rights, including Constitutional protected rights, come with responsibilities.
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