Senate Proceeding on Jul 22nd, 2009 :: 0:48:25 to 0:59:00
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0:48:18 to 0:48:39( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: i urge my colleagues in the senate to stand up for our local communities and their common the presiding officer: who yields time? mr. thune: i yield to the senator from louisiana as much time as h the presiding officer: the senar from louisiana is recognized. mr. vitter: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise in strong

0:48:25 to 0:59:00( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Vitter

0:48:40 to 0:49:02( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: support of senate amendment number 1618. i am a proud cosponsor of this amendment by senator thune, along with dozens of other senators on a bipartisan basis, and i urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment. mr. president, the second amendment is aalued constitutional right, and thank god courts, particularly in

0:49:03 to 0:49:23( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: recent years, have recognized that. of course, the supreme court in the landmark heller decision ruled that -- quote -- individual right, the individual right to possess and weapons in case of confrontation" -- close quote -- is a protected, fundamental, constitutional right.

0:49:24 to 0:49:45( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: even the very liberal ninth circuit court based in california ruled that the second amendment right to keep and bear arms is -- quote -- "deeply rooted in this nation's history and t and has long been regarded as -- quote -- "the true palladium of liberty." it also said t "nothing less than the

0:49:46 to 0:50:06( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: of the nation, the defense internal threats rests on the provision." -- close quote. that is why this amendment is so particular. it what does that mean in terms? it means the ability of citizens, tuckly

0:50:07 to 0:50:28( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: vulnerable in women, to protect themselves, people like sue fontanel in louisiana who told me -- quote -- "when my family and i go out at night it makes me feel safer just knowing that i am ana have my concealed weapon." it is personal safety and security. it is a fundamental ability to

0:50:29 to 0:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: protect one's self and family and one's property. and so if thats a fundamental right, and if we have reasonable laws and reasonable permitting processes, why shouldn't sue fo that

0:50:52 to 0:51:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: other states which also allow conceal carry? this isn't just anecdotal quotes. this is also backed up by criminal logical stud it has been concluded "allowing citizens to carry concealed

0:51:14 to 0:51:38( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: weapons deters violent when state conceal handgun laws went in effect into a county, murders fellly 8.5% and rapes and aggravated assaultsell by 5% and 7%." in the 1990's, two other researchesser found that guns were used for self-protection

0:51:39 to 0:52:01( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: aboabout 2.5 million times annually and that number, of course, dwarfs these tiny numbers in anecdotal evidence very tiny numbers of improper use of conceal carry permits. responding to the

0:52:02 to 0:52:22( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: study, wolfgang, as strong a gun control advocate that can be found in this country" he couldn't dispute the methodology an gertz study. he agreed with it. so our amendment will simply allow law-abiding americans to

0:52:23 to 0:52:44( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: exercise their fundamental right to self-dense by using the full f our u.s. constitution. now, as we do this, as we protect that fundamental individual right, we also protect i think it's very important to address som

0:52:45 to 0:53:05( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: with regard to states' rights that have been made by the o side. we do not mandate the right to conceal carry in any state that do not allow the there are some states -- illinois and wisconsin -- that fall into that category. we do not mandate conceal carry

0:53:06 to 0:53:27( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: right in those states. in addition, our amendment does not establish national standards for concealed carry. it does not provide a carry permit. it simply allows citizens who are able to carry in their home state to also carry in other states but only in those other

0:53:28 to 0:53:48( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: permits. and we also respect the law of th where guns can be carried and where they cannot be carried. so we explicitly respect that state law by requiring that state laws concerning specific types of location in which

0:53:49 to 0:54:09( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: firearms may not be carried must be followed b the visiting individual, and that's very, very important. so, finally, we absolutely protect and enshrine current federal law in terms o background checks and people with criminal problems or mental

0:54:10 to 0:54:31( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: problems who cannot carry guns. so if under current law an individual is prohibited by current federal law from carrying a firearm, we absolutely protect and enshrine that. let me say that again. if under current federal law an individual is prohibited from carrying a gun, that is fully protected.

0:54:32 to 0:54:52( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: mr. present, at the end of the day, this is really, again, a fundamental debate about what is the problem in terms of violent crime? is the problem really law-are abiding citizens who follow the -- is the problem really law-abiding citizens who follow the law and take all of the time and all of the trouble needed to

0:54:53 to 0:55:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: get conceal carry permits, go through background checks, fill out forms, do everything that's required by their home state? that class ofeople the fundamental cause of violent crime? or is the dominant, 99.9% fundamental problem in the

0:55:14 to 0:55:35( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: violent crime arena people who don't follow the law, the law, who ignore conceal carry law, who ignore those requirements as well as every other law on the unfortunately including laws against murder and armed robbery and other violent cri clearly, clearly, in the

0:55:36 to 0:55:56( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: of commonsense the latter category of folks who are the problem, not the former. and the statistics and the evidence and the history bears that out. so conceal carry is a useful and essential tool for citizens to be able to protect themselves and stop and deter

0:55:57 to 0:56:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: violent crime. it's not any significant source of violent crime whatsoever. we have the numbers that bear that out. we have some states that allow reciprocity now -- 10 states allow reciprocity under their state law. have they seen incidents of

0:56:18 to 0:56:38( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: problems with conceal carry permits from other no. have they seen spikes in violent crime because of this reciprocity? no. so, again, mr. president, because this is a fundamental right, because

0:56:39 to 0:56:59( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: people's security, because criminalogical and other studies are on our side and don't show any spike in val cri violent crime by this but in fact deter crimes by conceal carry, i urge all of my colleagues to support this important reciprocity amendment.

0:57:00 to 0:57:21( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: groups around the country who respect the s find that a fundamental and important right are certainly supporting this amendment. the national rifle association, the n.r.a., is a strong supporter of this amendment. i thank them for that. i thank them for their leadership. they're also speiv spefically

0:57:22 to 0:57:43( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: scoring this amendment in terms of member votes. gun owners of america, another leading gun rights, second amendment group, is a strong supporter of this amendment, specifically pushing for passage and scoring the owner-operator independent drivers association, the passenger cargo

0:57:44 to 0:58:04( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: and many other groups around the country are strong supporters of this amendment because the second amendment is a fundamental right, because conceal carry does work, because it prevents crimes and deters crimes and does not significantly add in any meaningful way to the crime problem.

0:58:05 to 0:58:25( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: again, mr. president, like with a lot of gun control this comes down to a pretty fundamental question: do you think the big problem with regard to the law-abiding citizen, the one who takes the time, goes to the trouble of filling out the forms and following all the rules for

0:58:26 to 0:58:46( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: conceal carry? i don't. or do you think the fundamental problem -- the 990.99% problem -- is the criminal who doesn't respect that law, surely doesn't respect that law, because he doesn't even respect laws against murder and armed robbery

0:58:47 to 0:59:01( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: and other violent crime? that's the mr. president. commonsense americans know that. and this amendment will protect law-abiding citizens and provide anothe