On the recordJuly 7, 2016
I stand here today as someone who supports the Constitution, including the Second Amendment. I stand here today as someone who believes in protecting our national security. In fact, I have risked my life to defend it. I stand here as someone who supports the will of the American people because that is my job. In my previous job, I was an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps. Over the course of four tours in Iraq, I used guns every single day to do my job. In fact, guns saved my life. I do not want to take away guns from me or any other law-abiding American citizen. But I do want to make sure that terrorists, criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill do not get guns they shouldn't have. All we need to do to accomplish that are two simple, commonsense things: background checks for all sales of guns with no loopholes that criminals and terrorists can exploit; and, second, if you are too dangerous to fly, you are too dangerous to buy. These simple, commonsense gun safety measures are supported by nine out of 10 Americans. So if we are going to do our job here in Congress, if we are going to follow the will of the American people, if we are going to protect our national security, and if we are going to continue to uphold the Constitution, then we should do these things. The reason that they are so important is because of the Americans who have been killed by senseless gun violence. Mr.…
