[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 10 (Wednesday, January 18, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E115]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E115]]
          THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS--AN AMERICAN LEGACY

                                 ______


                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 18, 1995
  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, continuing a tradition begun in the 98th 
Congress, I have once again reintroduced legislation which reaffirms 
the commitment of this body to protect the second amendment to the 
Constitution.
  The Founding Fathers recognized the right of men to defend 
themselves, and guaranteed Americans that this right would be preserved 
by the second amendment. At the time of our Nation's founding, 
guaranteeing this right was an idea foreign to the monarchies that 
ruled most of the world. James Madison noted this when he wrote that 
the right to keep and bear arms was an advantage ``which Americans 
possess over the people of almost every other nation.''
  During the 103d Congress, we witnessed an assault on the right of 
law-abiding Americans to own firearms. Both the Brady bill and the ban 
on certain semiautomatic guns were ill-conceived legislative attempts 
at crime control. Actually, both had the effect of usurping the rights 
of Americans while doing little to help crime in America.
  Gun control laws have never worked to reduce crime in America. 
Washington, DC has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in 
America, yet leads the Nation in per capita murders. My own State of 
Illinois has some very tough standards before its citizens can legally 
possess firearms, yet since those laws went into effect, the crime and 
murder rates have dramatically increased.
  I find it necessary, therefore, to remind my colleagues that our 
Nation's crime problems cannot be solved by infringing upon the rights 
of peaceful Americans to own arms. Furthermore, because of the recent 
congressional assaults on this right, we must demonstrate to Americans 
that we are resolved to protecting this right by supporting my 
resolution to reaffirm the second amendment and the right of 
individuals to keep and bear arms. I include, for the Record, the 
language of the resolution and commend it to the attention of my 
colleagues with the hope that they will consider becoming a cosponsor.
                             H. Con. Res. 5

       Expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the 
     right of all Americans to keep and bear arms in defense of 
     life or liberty and in the pursuit of all other legitimate 
     endeavors.
       Whereas the second amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States conveys an inalienable right to all American 
     citizens, such right occupying the same preferred position as 
     all other constitutional rights;
       Whereas unconscionable abridgements of the second amendment 
     have been undertaken over the years by State and local 
     governmental bodies, and have been allowed by the courts to 
     stand uncorrected; and
       Whereas the Framers of the second amendment to the 
     Constitution and those who ratified the second amendment 
     intended that the individual retain the right to keep and 
     bear arms in order to protect life, liberty, and property and 
     to protect our Nation from those who would attempt to destroy 
     our freedom: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that the 
     Constitution provides that all individual citizens have the 
     right to keep and bear arms, which right supersedes the power 
     and authority of any government.
     

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