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Dear Mr. Don Smith,
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Second Amendment and the importance of preserving our fundamental right to keep and bear arms. I appreciate your views on this matter and welcome the opportunity to respond to your concerns. It’s a privilege to represent you in Congress, where I will always be a compassionate and tenacious advocate for New York’s 24th Congressional District. When the Founding Fathers ratified the Bill of Rights on December 15th, 1791, they included the Second Amendment to ensure every American had “the right… to keep and bear Arms.” They went on to affirm that this right “shall not be infringed.” For more than 200 years, sportsmen, hunters, and lawful gun owners have embraced our Second Amendment rights, which we all share as Americans. I am a staunch defender of our Second Amendment, and have been throughout my time in public service. In 2013, when Governor Cuomo passed the SAFE Act in the dark of night, I stood up with law enforcement, sportsmen, and Second Amendment advocates to call out this infringement on our rights. I am proud to have been the first member of the New York State Assembly to introduce legislation to repeal the SAFE Act.
In Congress, I am a cosponsor of the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would grant Americans the ability to use their concealed carry permit across state lines without burdensome paperwork. I am also a member of the Congressional Sportsmen Caucus and a cosponsor of the Second Amendment Protection Act to ensure that veterans, who have benefits managers appointed for them, do not have their Second Amendment rights taken away.
You may also be interested to know that last year, I led 175 of my colleagues in the House of Representatives on an important and historic congressional amicus brief to the Supreme Court. This amicus brief was critical to the successful effort to overturn New York's onerous and arbitrary concealed carry laws in NYSRPA v. Bruen.
However, our fight continues! Just days after the Supreme Court's ruling, Albany Democrats passed yet another unconstitutional concealed carry law called the Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA). That is why I introduced H.Res. 45, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that New York State's Concealed Carry Improvement Act is unconstitutional. Please rest assured that I am actively monitoring the ongoing lawsuits against the CCIA and will do everything in my power to ensure that the courts quickly restore New Yorkers' Second Amendment rights and hold our state politicians responsible for their bad faith infringement of our rights.
Thank you again for contacting me. To stay up to date on my work in Washington and across New York’s 24th District, please sign up for my weekly e-newsletter here and be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter. I also encourage you to visit my website at https://tenney.house.gov/ to learn more about the full range of services my office can provide you. I am honored to explain every vote I cast in Congress so you always know where I stand. You can read my vote explanations here.
Sincerely,
Rep. Claudia Tenney
Member of Congress
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