—– Original Message —–
> SENATOR CRAIG REQUESTS ACCOUNTS OF DEFENSIVE USES OF FIREARMS
>
> U.S. Senator (and NRA Board Member) Larry Craig (R-Id.) recently gave an
> impassioned defense of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and also called on
> law-abiding gun owners who have used their firearms to defend themselves
> or their family to send him their accounts. (You will be able to find the
> full text of Senator Craig’s speech posted on NRAILA.org, under the
> section called Research & Information.) Several anti-gun Senators have
> recently stood on the Senate floor to read the names of crime victims,
> implying that lives could be saved by their anti-gun, anti-personal
> protection agenda. Craig responded in part by speaking of the defensive
> uses of firearms by law-abiding citizens that take place every day in
> America, citing specific examples where firearms in the hands of
> responsible gun owners saved lives, as well as referencing the extensive
> research that indicates firearms are used as many as 2.5 million times
> every year in self-defense. Craig also addressed those who misinterpret
> the meaning of the Second Amendment in order to promote “gun control” and
> their false claim that the reference to a “well regulated Militia” merely
> “means that it is a right of our Government to keep and bear arms.”
> Senator Craig was quick to point out, however, that “under this standard,
> the Bill of Rights would protect only the right of a government to speak,
> or the right of a government to criticize itself, if you were taking that
> same argument and (applying it to) the First Amendment. In fact, the Bill
> of Rights protects the rights of people from being infringed upon by
> Government — not the other way around.” He then went on to state that the
> “framers of our Constitution wrote the Second Amendment with a greater
> purpose. They made the Second Amendment the law of the land because it has
> something very particular to say about the rights of every man and every
> woman….That is: The first right of every human being (is) the right of
> self-defense….Our Founding Fathers wrote the Second Amendment to tell us
> that a free state cannot exist if the people are denied the right or the
> means to defend themselves.” Craig ended his oration with a specific
> invitation. “I encourage all listening today, if you have heard of someone
> using their Second Amendment rights to prevent a crime, to save a life, to
> protect another life, then send us your story,” he said. “Send me those
> stories from your local newspapers about that law-abiding citizen who used
> his constitutional right of self-defense. Send that story to me, Senator
> Larry Craig, Washington, DC, 20510, or send it to your own Senator.” If
> you wish to take Senator Craig up on his invitation, but need to know the
> address of your U.S. Senators, you can call the Grassroots Division at
> (800) 392-8683, or use the “Write Your Reps” feature at www.NRAILA.org.