Issue Position: Second Amendment

Issue Position

Principles
Secure our Constitutional freedoms
Promote access to safe and secure shooting ranges
Keep federal lands open for recreational activities

The ability to purchase and possess firearms is a right protected by the Constitution--and is part of our country's history and tradition. The U.S. House of Representatives has considered and passed several important initiatives to preserve and strengthen Second Amendment rights.

The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriation Act permanently restricts the use of federal funding to create a national database of gun owners. This law also permanently prohibits the Federal Bureau of Investigation from retaining records on individuals who purchase weapons beyond the authorized 24-hour window.

While the Obama Administration voted in favor of the United Nation's Arms Trade Treaty, H.R. 933, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013, was signed into law with a provision that prevents the U.S. from ratifying the United Nation's Arms Trade Treaty. I am also an original cosponsor of a bipartisan concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 23, to oppose the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), which raises a number of serious concerns, including threats to our Second Amendment rights, our domestic defense manufacturing base, and our ability to defend our allies.

To be clear, I am fully supportive of efforts to eliminate illegal arms trafficking internationally and domestically. We must also continue to evaluate existing law and ensure we have proper enforcement. That said, however, any treaty must also be balanced to guarantee protection of our constitutional right to bear and keep arms.

I am the author of the Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act, a bipartisan measure that gives states greater flexibility to build and maintain safe shooting ranges. Public lands should remain available for law-abiding citizens to use for recreational shooting and should continue to be an important resource for hunter education and gun safety programs. This legislation will soon be introduced in the House.

To prevent the EPA from restricting the use of traditional ammunition or fishing tackle that contains lead components, I cosponsored H.R. 322, the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act. To secure the lawful travel of firearms, I supported the passage of the National Right-to-Carry Act, which would allow law-abiding citizens to carry firearms across state lines. I also cosponsored the Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement Act, which would allow California residents to obtain a concealed carry weapons permit in another state and use that permit while residing in California.

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