Response to letter sent

[Randall53]

Dear Randall:

Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts regarding the Second Amendment. I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to me, and it is an honor to represent you in Congress.

The words of the Second Amendment are clear and direct: "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."

The 2nd Amendment protects the right to bear arms for all law abiding citizens whether for self-defense, hunting or recreation. Despite the clear language of the 2nd Amendment and a long history of gun ownership in our nation, anti-gun activists across the country are trying to limit and take away the rights of individuals to possess firearms. Such actions are both unconstitutional and a threat to our liberty.

As you may know, President Obama revealed his anti-gun proposals to the public on January 16, 2013and called for Congress to pass several anti-gun measures including so called universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, a new "assault-weapons" ban, and tougher penalties on people who buy guns with the "express purpose" of illegal sales.

Shortly after the President revealed his anti-gun proposals, I cosigned a letter with several of my colleagues to be sent to the President that expresses our disapproval and our intention to defend the Constitution.

We will not support, and in fact we will strongly oppose, any legislation or executive order that prevents law-abiding Americans from responsibly exercising their Second Amendment rights, including any attempt to prevent ownership of certain firearms or ammunition. As public officials we have a duty to ensure that criminals are punished for their acts of violence. But we will not sit idly by while law-abiding citizens are stripped of their constitutional rights and turned into criminals by an overreaching federal government.

In the wake of tragedy there are no easy answers. I will always be welcome to thoughtful discussion on how to make our country safer. However, I strongly oppose the idea that we must limit the rights of law-abiding citizens to do so. Legislation like Senator Dianne Feinstein's Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 is not the answer. Statistics have proven that banning certain weapons and having stricter anti-gun policies have no effect on curbing gun violence.

The simple fact is that a clear majority of Americans support gun rights. I have always been a strong believer that an armed citizenry is a free citizenry. For this reason you can be assured that I will stand strong in order to protect your Second Amendment Rights and demand accountability from the Obama administration.

Thank you again for your concern about this important issue, and I hope you will let me know if I may be of further assistance in the future.


Sincerely,

Chuck Fleischmann
Member of Congress

[reed1285]

makes me proud to be a Chattanoogan. As far as i know, Chuck Fleischmann has a pretty good record on being pro 2A. The NRA gives him a good grade i know.

[Randall53]

I agree. I was glad to see he signed the letter to Obama.