Our experience in Hawaii has shown that we can place common sense limits on gun sales, demonstrate our respect for gun owners, and, most importantly, help ensure the safety of our residents.
Making improvements to our background check system and cracking down on illegal gun trafficking are common-sense ways to prevent violence without punishing law abiding gun owners. We owe it to the American people to take real action to reduce gun violence in our communities.
I support gun safety measures, and I'll tell you, I grew up in a family of gun owners and hunters, and I went hunting with my dad as a kid, and you know, I have deep respect for the Second Amendment and the culture of our country.
There is absolutely no disconnect between common sense gun safety measures and protecting the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.
I do not accept that we cannot find a common sense way to preserve our traditions, including our basic second amendment freedoms and the rights of law abiding gun owners, while at the same time reducing the gun violence that unleashes so much mayhem on a regular basis.
We have all read tragic stories in our local papers about gun accidents as a result of misuse. As lawmakers we can better promote safety and responsibility by encouraging gun owners to purchase gun safes to store firearms and keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
When I go to Lockheed or General Motors... all those union members are gun owners. They believe in responsible gun ownership and responsible gun safety, but all those guys are gun owners, and that's not necessarily an issue in New Jersey.
I believe we can have common sense gun safety measures consistent with the Second Amendment, and, in fact, what I have proposed is supported by 90 percent of the American people and more than 75 percent of responsible gun owners.
Surely there are common-sense reforms that we should, and must, take in order to keep our children and our communities safe. I take these recommendations very seriously, and will listen to the voices of my constituents to ensure I do everything I can to help prevent gun violence.
My goal in signing these [gun control ] bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
We are the millions and millions of Americans who take responsibility for our own safety and protection of our children as a God-given right. We are proud to exercise that right, are not ashamed of it and deserve nothing less than absolute respect and admiration as lawful gun owners.
There are rules and laws to help ensure our physical safety. Likewise, the Lord has provided guidelines and commandments to help ensure our spiritual safety so that we might successfully navigate this often-treachero us mortal existence and return eventually to our Heavenly Father.
I am certain that there are extremists on both sides of the gun control debate in Hawaii, as in the rest of the nation. However, it has been our willingness and ability to develop mutually respectful and effective gun control laws that have kept our community safe.
No corner of our society has been left unscathed by the horrors of gun violence. To end it, we'll need to bring together the best from each corner, taking what works from government, the private sector, and our local communities and crafting common-sense solutions to gun violence.
The vast majority of Americans are asking for common-sense legislation to protect our families, our friends, and our communities from gun violence.
I'm someone who's seen firsthand the effects of gun violence. I've had to carry a gun to do my job in the war. And I know as well as anyone that this violence has no place on our streets, in our schools, in our concerts, so we've got to do something about it.
Even before President [Barack] Obama announced actions aimed at tightening controls on gun purchases, sales were up, partly in reaction to terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. Gun dealers say the president's initiatives have spurred sales. At the same time, polling shows more than two thirds of Americans support the president's proposals, including a majority of gun owners.