Expanding public target ranges boosts gun safety
Our constitutional right to keep and bear arms is one that I have always felt comes with immense responsibility. Whether a gun is being used for self-defense or recreational purposes, it is essential that gun owners understand the importance of — and always practice — safe shooting techniques.
The men and women of our armed forces have selflessly sacrificed in defense of our rights and freedoms – including a law-abiding citizen’s Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
In 1968, Congress passed the Gun Control Act (GCA) to regulate interstate commerce in firearms. Among other things, the GCA restricted citizens from legally purchasing a firearm in any state other than the one in which they reside. In addition to the hardship the men and women of our military face overseas, our servicemembers and their families also face hardships here at home –including the requirement to frequently uproot their lives to move to a new state and military base. With this in mind, Congress exempted from the GCA restrictions active duty service members who are on permanent duty station orders and allowed them to be considered a resident of the state in which they are posted for the purpose of purchasing firearms. However, no such exception was made for the spouses of active duty military members.
While a member of the armed forces is serving our country, they should be able to have confidence in the personal safety and security of their loved ones.
To that end, I was proud to recently cosponsor S. 394, the Protect Our Military Families’ Second Amendment Rights Act. This legislation – introduced by Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and John Thune (R-SD) – would create an exception for spouses of active military members and allow them to purchase handguns in the state where their spouse is permanently stationed for duty. S. 394 would also allow these spouses to purchase handguns in a neighboring state if the military member spouse commutes across a state border to their duty station.
Particularly in light of the recent attacks against our military personnel at bases located within the United States, it is now more important than ever to ensure we safeguard the Second Amendment rights of military spouses. Law-abiding citizens should be able to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense, and it should not be more difficult for military spouses to do so when their loved one answers the call to serve and protect our rights and freedoms.