Pete Sessions: “It is designed to allow qualified law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon while they are off duty. Back at…”

“It is designed to allow qualified law enforcement officers to carry a concealed weapon while they are off duty. Back at my home in Alabama, when I drive into the neighborhood, I know that a police officer lives at the corner. It gives me some comfort and my wife comfort. We have discussed it. When we pass that police car parked there, I know if something happened in that neighborhood and somebody needed help, he would respond. I also hope when he is traveling around off duty that he would be allowed to carry his weapon. We pay him to do it when he is on active duty. We pay him to carry that weapon and to be ready to respond. It is one of the greatest bargains Americans have for safety and security--that law officers would voluntarily, on their own time, be willing to carry a gun and oftentimes step forward at their own risk to help those in danger. I think it is a very good piece of legislation. If officers who have been trained for 30 years in carrying weapons retire, we ought to be glad they are willing to carry them as they travel.”