Blake Farenthold: “Thank you very much. As I was listening to the gentlelady from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), her stories about growing up…”

“Thank you very much. As I was listening to the gentlelady from South Dakota (Mrs. Noem), her stories about growing up around firearms and the quality time that she spent with her grandmother learning marksmanship and learning gun safety and learning about life in the outdoors really struck home with me. I remember growing up with my grandfather, driving around the ranch learning to shoot a .22, moving up and learning how to shoot a shotgun and learning how to do so safely. In Texas, gun control is hitting what you aim at, and that's part of growing up, with an understanding of firearm safety and marksmanship. It's part of many American's lives, just like it was a part of my life. I got a lot of letters as the debate about gun control was going through the Senate, as well, urging me to continue to stand up for the Second Amendment rights that our Founding Fathers realized was so important--the right to bear arms; the right that those in the Revolutionary War fought for. One of the letters came just this week from a student and a Boy Scout named Caleb. He said: Dear Representative Farenthold: I wanted to thank you for your beliefs on gun control in our State. I believe that we all have a right to bear arms and protect ourselves if we are in harm. And that really kind of sums up the feeling of a lot of folks in Texas and a lot of the farmers and ranchers that I represent.…”