Summary
We believe that the Constitution does guarantee individual citizens the right to bear arms. We agree with the Supreme Court that that right is not absolute and that federal, state and local governments have the right to regulate it.
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Background
Like many other rights, the right to bear arms is not absolute. Federal, state, and local governments have the right to regulate the sale of guns to prevent them from falling into the hands of convicted felons and the mentally unstable. We also believe that the government has the right to restrict the sale of certain kinds of weapons, ranging from bombs and bomb making equipment to assault weapons and bump stocks that convert weapons to be fully automatic. We believe that governments should exercise these rights carefully and they should not fall prey to the conventional wisdom that guns cause violence or that banning the sale of guns will prevent their presence. The experience of Washington, D.C., and other major cities, suggests that such bans do not, necessarily, reduce gun violence.
We support sentencing guidelines that impose longer sentences for crimes committed using guns. We also support making parents criminally and civilly liable for the use of guns that the parents either intentionally or negligently make available to their children.
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