[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 30 (Monday, March 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H938]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PRESERVING THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

  (Mr. WILLIAMS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud supporter of the right to 
keep and bear arms. I am appalled by the President's attempts to erode 
our constitutional freedoms and impress his will by executive order. 
Our Founding Fathers would not have imagined that the right they listed 
second in the Bill of Rights, the right to bear arms, would be 
systematically attacked.
  My opposition to what the President has proposed is based on the fact 
that his plan is not only unconstitutional, it is not effective. The 
Federal Government has tried a ban on these weapons before, and it did 
not work.
  The National Institute of Justice states that ``there has been no 
discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun 
violence'' due to the 1994 assault weapons ban. Gun control laws do not 
make our communities safer. They do not take firearms from criminals 
but, rather, from law-abiding citizens.
  Second, the phrase ``assault weapons ban'' is a term of art. These 
are semiautomatic guns that essentially shoot the same kind of bullets 
as small-game hunting rifles. Simply put, these are hunting rifles made 
to look like a military gun. Banning it for cosmetic reasons doesn't 
make sense and won't save any more lives.
  Third, banning large capacity magazines will do little to stop 
criminals. Any gun that uses a magazine can use a magazine of any size. 
That's true of rifles and handguns. So-called ``assault weapons'' are 
not any different.
  In the end, if the President wants to begin a national dialogue about 
stopping violence, he shouldn't start by taking away our rights as 
citizens. I am willing to work with the President and my colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to find a real solution to the challenges we 
face, but that solution will have to look at all the issues involved. 
But perhaps the most important part of the solution is restoring a 
culture of life in this country again.
  May God bless America.

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