[Page S3159]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 40--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
 UNDUE RESTRICTIONS ON THE RIGHT OF LAW-ABIDING GUN OWNERS TO CARRY A 
    FIREARM FOR SELF-DEFENSE OUTSIDE OF THE HOME VIOLATE THE SECOND 
           AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

  Mrs. LOEFFLER submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 40

       Whereas the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the 
     United States (referred to in this preamble as the ``Second 
     Amendment'') states, ``[a] well regulated Militia, being 
     necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the 
     people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'';
       Whereas the right to ``bear Arms'', in plain language, 
     means the right to carry arms;
       Whereas, based on this plain language, the Second Amendment 
     clearly provides individual citizens with a right to carry 
     arms for the purpose of self-defense;
       Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States has held 
     that the Second Amendment is incorporated under the 
     Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States 
     and thereby protects the right of an individual under the 
     Second Amendment from infringement by State and local 
     governments;
       Whereas several States have enacted laws that unduly 
     inhibit and infringe upon the rights of a law-abiding 
     individual to carry a firearm outside of the home, unless the 
     individual can demonstrate a special need to carry the 
     firearm;
       Whereas these State laws are inconsistent with the plain 
     meaning of the right to bear arms and the rights granted to 
     individuals by the Second Amendment; and
       Whereas established Federal processes and procedures 
     regulating the right to purchase and possess a firearm are 
     sufficient to provide for the interests of public safety: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that undue 
     restrictions on the right of law-abiding gun owners to carry 
     a firearm for self-defense outside of the home--
       (1) violate both--
       (A) the intent of the Founding Fathers, as expressed by 
     James Madison in The Federalist No. 46; and
       (B) the clear meaning of the Second Amendment to the 
     Constitution of the United States ``to keep and bear Arms''; 
     and
       (2) are unlawful infringements of the rights granted by the 
     Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

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