Chris Stewart: “I thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding his time. I had the great blessing of growing up on a family farm. I…”

“I thank the gentleman from Indiana for yielding his time. I had the great blessing of growing up on a family farm. I know what it's like as a kid to be so excited to go hunting with my brothers and with my father that you can't sleep the night before. I also had the great privilege of serving for 14 years as a pilot and an officer in the United States Air Force. There I learned a little bit about defending our Nation through an adequate show of force. I also, by the way, qualified as an expert marksman in small arms. Recent and saddening events of violence have brought conversations about guns to the national stage. These acts of violence, as terrible as they are, should not be used by the White House as justification to revoke the rights outlined in our Constitution. The Second Amendment clearly states that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Our Founding Fathers created this amendment to protect the citizens from government tyranny. In 2008, the Supreme Court emphatically stated that the right to bear arms is an individual right. Today, it continues to ensure Americans' right to defend themselves against the evil in the world. Based on a survey as recently as 2000, U.S. civilians do use guns to protect themselves and others from crime at least 990,000 times a year--almost 1 million times a year. It's critical that we continue to protect this personal and absolute right.…”