I just received a letter back from one of our California gun owning, gun control elected pinheads, now according to this letter any mag. over 10 rounds is a ASSAULT MAGAZINE. WOW
Thank you for contacting me about legislation to prevent gun violence. As chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns with me on this important issue as I work on a comprehensive approach to reduce gun violence while protecting law-abiding citizens' right to own legal firearms.
As a responsible gun owner, I am sure you agree that we must do everything in our power to reduce gun violence. On this, you and I are 100 percent in agreement.
We may disagree on the approach to reduce gun violence, but recent polls show that most Americans and many gun owners believe we should:
make sure everyone who buys a firearm goes through a background check (no one wants convicted criminals or people with a history of dangerous mental illness to have access to guns),
crack down on "straw-purchasing," the process by which someone legally purchases a firearm for the purpose of transferring it to a friend who is barred from gun ownership (someone with a history of domestic abuse, for example),
take aim at gun trafficking and create federal penalties for both those who purchase and traffic these guns, and
enforce the laws currently on the books and prosecute prohibited buyers who attempt to purchase guns,
ban assault magazines, which hold more than 10 rounds and allow a shooter to inflict mass damage in a short period of time without reloading,
close the holes in our mental-health system and make sure that care is available for those who need it.
The Supreme Court made it clear in District of Columbia v. Heller that Americans have the right to keep and bear arms. I will never give up my guns and I will never ask law-abiding individuals without a history of dangerous mental illness to give up theirs. But it is important to understand, as conservative Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in Heller, there is no constitutional problem with laws forbidding firearms in places such as schools or with laws prohibiting felons and the mentally ill from carrying guns. This ruling provides people on both sides with an opportunity to work between the extremes and within the confines of the Second Amendment to pass legislation that will reduce gun violence and keep our communities safe.
This debate isn't a choice between protecting the Second Amendment or reducing gun violence. It is about the willingness of a responsible majority to do both.
Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me on this important issue. Please continue to contact me on all issues of importance to you and to our district.
Sincerely,
MIKE THOMPSON
Member of Congress