Personal Safety & 2nd Amendment Rights

Personal safety should be a top priority for everyone, but the means of insuring it is controversial. Some legislators believe that eliminating the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms is the best way to reduce crime. It is not and I will always fight to preserve and protect 2nd Amendment rights. The media loves to report on the criminal use of guns, but rarely reports on a law abiding citizen’s use of a firearm to prevent a crime or eliminate criminal activity.

The need to have the means to protect yourself and your family is especially critical when district attorneys refuse to prosecute criminals or downgrade felonies to misdemeanors.

Together with a number of my colleagues in the State House, I support our 2nd Amendment rights and believe-

• Guns act as a deterrent to crime; criminals who suspect their intended victims are
  armed are much less likely to commit a burglary or a carjacking.
• Georgians and Americans at large are statistically much more likely to face danger from
  guns used in the commission of crimes, in gang warfare and in personal disputes than
  they are from the mass shootings in public spaces that rightfully inspire fear and garner
  national attention.
• In this environment, gun rights protect law-abiding citizens – those looking to defend,
  not harm.
• The most effective way to stop gun violence is to fight crime, and it’s Georgia
  Republicans who are cracking down on gangs, providing oversight for prosecutors who
  continuously put violent offenders back on the streets.
• Gun control measures don’t work. Cities and states with stringent gun control, such as
  Chicago, New York and California, have high rates of gun violence.
• Gun control measures simply raise barriers to law-abiding citizens. Guns involved in
  crimes are usually obtained illegally – and feds can strengthen enforcement of a law that
  forbids straw purchases of guns.
• There’s a correlation between gun ownership and a decline in crime. In the 30 years
  before the pandemic, gun ownership in America doubled as crime rates went down by
  half.
• Gun rights are enshrined in our Constitution, designated not only for personal protection
  and hunting but also for the defense of freedom.
• Governments that choose who can enjoy constitutional rights and who can’t, based on
  perceived danger, will soon weaponize that power against political enemies.