Defending Right to Bear Arms

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for hosting this great Special Order on a fundamental right.

Madam Speaker, our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-protection is a fundamental right protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

However, many States, including my own home State of New York, home to Remington Arms, of all places, unconstitutionally restricts our right to carry concealed outside of our home. In most New York jurisdictions, an applicant must justify their need for such a concealed carry permit.

Despite the plain words of the Second Amendment enshrined for centuries in the Bill of Rights, State and local authorities in New York continue to reject applications for law-abiding Americans for entirely arbitrary reasons or for no reason at all. States like California and Massachusetts do exactly the same thing.

This arbitrary standard must be rejected. That is why I am leading the amicus brief for an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Corlett. This case will decide if New York's burdensome concealed carry law violates the Second Amendment.

A little background on the case: In 2016, Rensselaer County, New York, officials denied the concealed carry permit of Robert Nash for the purpose of self-defense. Later, in 2018, they also denied the concealed carry application of Brandon Koch for the same reason.

Both these individuals are honorable, upstanding, and law-abiding citizens. They met every requirement of New York's rigorous concealed carry license application. These two men simply applied for a concealed carry permit for personal protection after a rash of robberies in their neighborhoods and their community.

New York State is now witnessing the highest crime rate that we have had in the history of our State. However, even after all of that, the county licensing officers did not believe that self-defense was a valid exercise of constitutional rights under the Second Amendment.

The gun control measures being considered by the Supreme Court in this key case amount to a blanket ban on the right to keep and bear arms outside the home. The amicus brief I am submitting, with the support of more than 50 Members of the House of Representatives so far, defends citizens' rights against elected officials and government bureaucrats who are attempting to deny these fundamental constitutional rights to all Americans.

We argue that it is unconstitutional for the government to apply a balancing test for a fundamental right such as the Second Amendment under our Constitution. The Bill of Rights was drafted and passed to protect citizens from government overreach.

It is worth noting that New York is an original colony with a very strong history of citizens who stood up for our basic rights. In 1788 and 1789, before and during the Constitutional Convention and the founding of our Federal Constitution, New York's leaders refused to sign on to our Federal Constitution until--until--the Bill of Rights was added to our founding document. They knew how important Second Amendment rights were then, and how important they were to a self- governing constitutional Republic such as ours.

The success of the plaintiff, law-abiding gun owners in this case, will end this improper interpretation of our constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and will be the first major pro-Second Amendment decision considered by the U.S. Supreme Court since Heller v. District of Columbia.

Madam Speaker, I urge all Members who take their oath to uphold the Constitution seriously to sign on to this amicus brief. Together, we can all protect our Second Amendment rights for all Americans.

I, again, want to thank Mr. Clyde for his tenacious advocacy on behalf of our God-given constitutional rights, and all of my colleagues here today who are standing up for all Americans.

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