Latest Development: Senate GOP Lawmakers Propose Legislation That Will Codify The Right To Bear Arms Outside The Home

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Disclaimer:  This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.

The Second Amendment reads:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Some say that the amendment gives Americans the right to gun ownership. Others argue that the amendment says that it’s God-given right and the government shall not infringe upon that right. 

Democrats and Republicans have long battled over 2A and with Joe Biden in the White House, the divide has widened. 

While in Monterey Park, CA recently, at the location of a mass shooting in January, Biden told the crowd he would sign an executive order on gun control expanding background checks and gun safety measures and push for more bipartisan gun legislation. 

At the same time, Senate Republicans are gearing up to introduce a bill “that would codify the right to bear arms for self-defense outside the home.”  

Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina announced the legislation with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. 

The bill would codify rulings in two “key gun rights cases” into law. In “Washington, D.C. v. Heller and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, respectively,” the court ruled “that Americans have an individual right to bear arms irrespective of participation in a militia, and that they have the right to carry firearms outside their homes.”

“There’s nothing in the Second Amendment about ‘You can own a gun in your home and nowhere else,’” Graham said in a press conference announcing the legislation. “[Liberals] want to change that law, and if they get control of the Supreme Court these cases will change.”

“This is a concerted effort to attack the fundamentals of the Second Amendment as part of an effort to maintain control of the Senate, take back the House and win the White House,” he continued. “To conservatives, this is a wake-up call. We need you. Understand what’s going on here.”

In the Heller case, the court “affirmed an individual’s right to own a firearm.”

The decision in Bruen “affirmed the individual’s right to carry a gun for self-protection outside their home.”

Graham said the bill “would enshrine those rights in federal law. It would also give citizens the right to sue any government agency or official who tried to infringe on that right.”

“When you live in an autocratic environment, you don’t own; the government does,” Graham said.

“[The Act is] to give you a cause of action so you can fight back.”

Senator Kennedy of Louisianna was alongside Graham at the press conference. He reminded Americans that the decision of the court is to be respected and not ignored if you disagree with it like some Democrats like to do.

“Their copy of the Bill of Rights goes from amendment one to amendment three,” Kennedy said.

It’s an issue upon which Democrats and Republicans may never come to an agreement. Republicans argue that gun control will only have an effect on law-abiding citizens.

How many criminals do you know who follow the law? How many criminals will attempt to buy a gun legally when they can’t pass a background check?