Steve Daines Views - The Second Amendment and Gun Control

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, as put forth in the Bill of Rights, protects the right of the people to own and bear arms. It is my firm belief that law abiding American citizens have the right to possess and bear arms. This is a fundamental Constitutional right and is one of the pillars on which our great country was built.

We, as Americans, have responsibilities to ensure that the right to possess and bear arms remains the law of the land. We also must make sure that criminals who break the law bear the brunt of full and intense prosecution for their crimes. My solution is to hold law breakers accountable by using state and federal gun laws for the fullest extent of enforcement, with particular focus on gun related violent crimes and crimes involving illegal drugs.

It is well documented that gun control has never worked to reduce crime. Violating the Second Amendment while restricting law abiding citizens from owning guns plays directly into the hands of criminals. To make matters worse, gun control laws take firearms out of the hands of law abiding citizens while the criminals ignore the gun control laws and keep their weapons for use against unarmed citizens.

This puts honest American at risk and at a serious disadvantage to those who flaunt gun control laws on a daily basis. My goal is to make sure that law abiding Americans are always able to defend themselves by opposing the federal licensing requirements and national gun registration. My opposition is based on the fact that these actions are both a violations our Second Amendment right to bear arms and an invasion of privacy of people who wish to own guns legally.