Political Quotes

“Senator Udall was on the floor earlier, and he said somebody called his office earlier today asking why we were debating the Second Amendment today, and of course the answer to that is we are not debating the Second Amendment. There is actually nothing about this debate relevant to the Second Amendment because the Second Amendment is clear. As the Supreme Court has stated, an individual has a right to own a firearm. But, as that same Court very clearly stated in an opinion by Justice Scalia himself, that right is not absolute. The Congress has the ability to say there are some weapons that should be out of bounds and that there are some individuals who are so dangerous they shouldn't own weapons. So even the most conservative jurists on the Supreme Court have held very plainly that the Second Amendment allows for the Congress or State legislatures to decide there are certain individuals--felons, people who have been convicted of violent crimes, or individuals we suspect of terrorist activities--who shouldn't buy a weapon. Of course, as we remarked earlier, if you go into any gun club in Maine or Connecticut, that is what people in those forums believe as well. They believe law-abiding citizens should be able to get any weapons they want, by and large, but they do not believe criminals should be able to buy weapons. That is a view held by gun owners and non-gun owners alike because everyone accepts that that is in keeping with the Second Amendment.”