Supporter of the Second Amendment

I support the Second Amendment. I am a gun owner. I am a member of the National Rifle Association and of the local gun range, Point Blank. And I support the decisions of the United States Supreme Court related to the Second Amendment, which ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right—as is every other right contained in the Bill of Rights—and not a collective right as argued by opponents in those cases.

I also support, as does the NRA, background checks to ensure criminals or mentally incompetent people aren’t purchasing guns. And I support responsible gun use, as every gun owner I know does. To that end, I support the laws that have been on the books in Kentucky for many years, which include suspending one’s rights to possess a firearm when he has been found by a court of law to be mentally incompetent or a danger to himself or others—but only AFTER he has had the right to defend himself represented by counsel in a court of law. This has been the law in Kentucky for many years and I understand it is working well.

Also, recently many new gun owners have bought firearms for protection. I have reached out to a number of new gun owners and have helped them obtain training to understand how to safely use and store their new firearms. If you are a new gun owner and need training let me know and I would be happy to either take you myself or connect you with someone else who can help you understand how to more safely use your firearm.

In sum, I support our constitutional right to own and possess firearms. Like all rights, of course, the right to own weapons is not without limits. I just believe those limits should be few and directly focused on keeping dangerous people from owning and using guns, not law-abiding citizens.