Reaction to the Supreme Court's Decision Regarding the Second Amendment

“As a supporter of the Second Amendment, I applaud the United States Supreme Court’s decision to reaffirm the right of our citizens to keep and bear arms.  After the Supreme Court decided to consider this case – which was based on an appeal of a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the District of Columbia’s gun control laws violated individuals’ Second Amendment rights - I joined with many of my Congressional colleagues in co-signing an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in support of the Circuit Court’s ruling and upholding the Second Amendment as a fundamental individual right.

Restricting personal freedoms is not the answer to addressing crime in our communities.  The Washington, D.C. gun ban was imposed in 1976. Since that time, the District's homicide rate has increased many times faster than the national rate.  Rather than wrongly infringing on citizens’ constitutional rights, federal and state efforts to stop crime should be aimed at the full and vigorous prosecution of violent criminals and the enforcement of existing laws. These efforts, coupled with funding for early education and crime prevention strategies that steer at-risk children away from potential lives of crime, are the key to a comprehensive crime prevention strategy.”