Gun Control and Americans' Second Amendment Rights
Floor Speech
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Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today along with quite a few Members to address the issue of gun control and Americans' Second Amendment rights.
Mr. Speaker, I have the honor of representing the Third District of Indiana. In the Hoosier State, we cherish our constitutional right to bear arms. For many years I also had the honor of serving in the Indiana General Assembly, where I was proud to coauthor and get signed into law the lifetime concealed carry permit so that Hoosiers could protect themselves, their families, and their homes.
Starting in 2013, in response to the push for radical gun control legislation from Senate Democrats, we founded the Republican Study Committee's Second Amendment Initiative here in Congress, which serves as a platform for House Republicans to share the most important facts about gun control and the Second Amendment.
Tonight I will be joined on the House floor by many members of the Second Amendment Initiative and other proud Members who steadfastly defend Americans' gun rights.
Mr. Speaker, we come to the House floor tonight to set the record straight. Yesterday President Obama announced his intentions to unilaterally pursue executive actions on gun control.
Like times past, I wholeheartedly oppose the manner in which the President has chosen to pursue changes to current law. In fact, when reports surfaced this past fall that the President was considering executive actions on guns, I led over 30 of my House colleagues in sending a letter to the White House requesting information on what exactly he planned to do and why.
My colleagues and I had a number of very simple questions. First, if the President is planning on closing the supposed gun show loophole, did the Vice President and his gun control commission recommend this policy for inclusion among the 23 executive actions announced by the White House in January of 2013? If so, why was it excluded from the announcement?
Second, is the White House relying on any new data that was not available when those 2013 actions were announced?
Third, does the White House have any evidence private sellers' transaction volumes and propensity for illegal sales are positively correlated?
Fourth, does the White House believe this new policy would have prevented any of the recent year's major shootings?
Finally, does the White House expect criminals to voluntarily comply with these new rules?
The White House still has not responded to our letter. Tomorrow, the President plans to hold a Q&A townhall televised on CNN regarding guns in America.
Mr. Speaker, I fear after this event, Americans will continue to be left with more questions than answers, like, first and foremost, why does President Obama insist on infringing on Congress' lawmaking authority?
The reason we don't have any answers to the questions about this new gun control policy is because it was crafted in back rooms, out of view of the public, instead of in Congress, where we would have held hearings, committees would have reviewed the policy, and our constituents would have had the opportunity to comment on it.
Mr. Speaker, in the event Congress would have held a hearing on this issue, we probably would have uncovered the glaring reality that there is no gun show loophole. If you were one of the 55,277 federally licensed gun dealers in America in fiscal year 2014, you would have been required, by law, to run background checks on individuals, no matter if you sold a gun at your place of business or at a gun show.
Congress would probably also have come across the Department of Justice's study of inmates from 2001 that found that less than 1 percent of inmates, when interviewed, actually bought their crime gun at a gun show. In contrast to this, almost 40 percent reported acquiring their guns illegally, such as by theft.
Members of Congress would have also found interesting a December 10 Fact Checker's column in The Washington Post which reported as true the fact that none of the past year's and month's tragic mass shootings would have been prevented by newly proposed gun laws.
Due to the President's insistence on going it alone and pursuing actions that challenge the Constitution, today we introduced H.R. 4321, the Separation of Powers Restoration and Second Amendment Protection Act. Joined by over 60 colleagues in the House, this bill would render any executive action that violates the Second Amendment or infringes on Congress' article I responsibilities as having no force or effect, and to prohibit funds for such actions and established standing for Congress, State, and local governments, and for aggrieved persons to challenge such actions in District Court. This legislation is the House companion bill to Senator Rand Paul's bill S. 2434.
Mr. Speaker, it is time the White House cut out the distractions. Stop blaming gun owners and start taking threats to Americans' safety seriously. Instead of continuing to blame Congress for not enacting new laws, perhaps the President should look to laws already on the books.
Reports suggest that some Federal prosecutors are choosing not to prosecute straw purchasers as a matter of policy. These are the individuals that purchase guns and illegally give or sell them to individuals they know could not pass a background check. For example, in 2012, the U.S. attorney for Chicago announced a transition to focusing on interstate trafficking and other violations instead of these illegal straw purchases.
On top of this solution, the President could also look to Congress for ideas. For example, States have been expanding concealed carry reciprocity to the point that Federal laws ought to catch up. I have a bill, H.R. 923, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would do just that.
Mr. Speaker, in the coming months, I look forward to working with House Republican leadership on bold strategies to actually make America safer.
At this time, I yield to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga).
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Ratcliffe).
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman from Florida.
I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Jody B. Hice).
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman for the reminder from one of our Founding Fathers, and I appreciate your service to the citizens in Georgia.
I yield to another Member from the great State of Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk).
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman from Georgia and appreciate his comments tremendously. I think he made some very good points.
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Mr. STUTZMAN. I thank the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?
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Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, if I could inquire as to the balance of my time.
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Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate each Member coming down tonight to talk about this. This is a very important issue. I am hearing from my constituents back in northeast Indiana every day on the concern that they have about the President's actions.
I would like to share just a statistic, that we know that national crime rates, violent crime and gun crime, have both dropped over the last 2\1/2\ decades. I think that is a positive sign that we should all be encouraged about and that we continue to work together to make sure that violent crime and gun crime is eliminated in this country.
In 2013, the national crime rate was about half of what it was at its height in 1991. Violent crime had fallen by 51 percent since 1991 and property crime by 43 percent.
In 2013, the violent crime rate was the lowest since 1970. Compared with 1993, the peak of U.S. gun homicides, the firearm homicide rate was 49 percent lower in 2010 and there were fewer deaths, even though the Nation's population grew.
The victimization rate for other violent crimes with a firearm, assault, robberies, and sex crimes, was 75 percent lower in 2011 than in 1993.
Violent, nonfatal crime victimization overall, with or without a firearm, also is down markedly, 72 percent over the past two decades.
As one of the former Members mentioned, if you look at the city of Chicago, which has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, it has a huge problem with gun violence in that city.
I would like to just read, in closing, again, what I think is really important for all of us, the Second Amendment: ``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.''
I ask that all of us, as Members of this great body, continue to remember that the Second Amendment is there to protect liberty and freedom.
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