“I urge you, I plead with you, continue your fight.”
Luncheon Speech
Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R-2nd Dist.) delivered the luncheon address, during which she recalled how she had been involved in passing concealed carry legislation in Ohio during her time in the state legislature.
Elected to Congress in 2004, Schmidt told the audience that she carries a small copy of the Constitution in her purse “to remind myself and others just what these words mean.”
“I take the Second Amendment very seriously,” she said. “ ‘The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ It seems to me that our Founding Fathers could not have made their intent more clear.”
She criticized anti-gunners who argue that the right to bear arms is limited to members of the militia, which they define as the National Guard.
“My friends,” Schmidt said, “this is a frightening concept. The well regulated militias of our founding fathers referred to trained and equipped ordinary citizens. They did not then and do not now refer to a National Guard, which is armed by the very entity from whom the Second Amendment is designed to protect us: the federal government.
“Those who say our right to keep and bear arms protects members of the National Guard are arguing that our Second Amendment doesn’t exist,” she added.
Schmidt lives in the District of Columbia four nights of the week, and she lamented that she cannot have a handgun, or a functional rifle or shotgun in her residence there for personal protection. She hailed the District Court of Appeals ruling earlier this year that struck down the gun ban on Second Amendment grounds, reading from the ruling handed down by Senior Judge Laurence Silberman in March. She is hopeful that the Supreme Court takes the case on appeal and ultimately rules that “The Second Amendment means what it says and our right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Period. Case closed.”
Schmidt said the gun ban has been a failure, and cited statistics to prove her argument. Last year, the District saw 137 homicides by gunfire, and another 959 serious assaults committed by armed criminals. Over the past five years, 856 people have died from gunshot wounds.
“The implications of this case go much further than just political wrangling over gun control laws,” she stressed. “Our personal safety is also implicated in this court battle. Gun control laws do not work. Every citizen must have the right to defend themselves.”
Schmidt quoted Lott’s 2005 testimony before a House committee, and then she took a heavy swing at gun control advocates who oppose concealed carry statutes.
“When the Ohio legislature was considering the law,” Schmidt recalled, “gun control advocates told us that the streets would be like the OK Corral…As in every other state that has enacted concealed carry laws, those claims turned out to be completely false and…the silence of my opponents on that issue is quite deafening. Concealed carry laws have been successful in every state in which they exist.”
Schmidt is a co-sponsor of HR-861, the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act. This legislation would allow people licensed to carry in their home states to carry in any other state that allows concealed carry. She and her husband are both licensed to carry in Ohio.
“The general public is starting to get it, and the elected leaders in Washington have learned that gun control laws are not the answer,” Schmidt said.
She cautioned that gun control activists “are clever little individuals” who will turn to different tactics. One of those strategies is suing firearm manufacturers and dealers to put them out of business. Schmidt was a co-sponsor of the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, and she supports codifying the Tiahrt Amendment that bars anti-gun mayors from using gun trace data for civil lawsuits against gun companies.
“For your past support and the great work you’ve done, I am appreciative,” she said. “I urge you, I plead with you, continue your fight. Your work makes my job of standing up for our Second Amendment rights much easier.”
Schmidt was honored as the recipient of this year’s CCRKBA Bill of Rights Award following her remarks. Return to Archive Index