Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) very much. I sit on the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Chairman, I would say…”

“I thank the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) very much. I sit on the Judiciary Committee. Mr. Chairman, I would say to the gentleman who is the proponent of the legislation that, first of all, we have a responsibility to keep law and order; we have a responsibility to protect the Second Amendment; and we have a responsibility to law enforcement officers. Tragically, in the backdrop of this debate was an individual who secured guns and killed and slaughtered people just last night. We want to make sure that we are safe and that we are dealing with issues that are important to protecting our law enforcement. First of all, this amendment is unnecessary. Current Federal law already entitles a person to transport a firearm from one place to another so long as the firearm is unloaded and the needs of the firearms or any ammunition being transported is not readily accessible or directly accessible from the passenger compartment, et cetera. This amendment intends to make a Federal open carry law. This open carry law should be one of the State's determinations. It happens to exist in the State that I am from. It should not be placed upon the entire country by Federal law. Why? Because whether a gun is supposed to be locked or has a trigger on it, it still poses a threat, possibly, to our law enforcement. I oppose this amendment because it is unnecessary and because it puts our law enforcement persons in danger.…”