2nd Amendment Sanctuaries

Against
December 14, 2012, a gun, pulled out and began firing, killing twenty children between the ages

six to seven years old. Yet no laws were passed and no restrictions were ever made. This was

about eight years ago, almost all of us in this room were in elementary school, just like those

children. But could this shooting ever be justified? Absolutely not, Senators, in today’s society,

is nothing like the past, nothing like the 1700s.

Senators, it’s for the following reasons that I give you today I urge you to vote in the

affirmation/negation of this legislation for the following two reasons: One, case law, and two

reduce in harm.

Firstly, Senators, case law. In the Supreme Court case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Former

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second

Amendment is not unlimited… nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on

longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or

laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government

buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."

In 2016, the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that "the right of the general

public to carry a concealed firearm in public is not, and never has been, protected by the Second

Amendment," thus upholding a law requiring a permitting process and "good cause" for

concealed carry licenses in states such as Virginia, Senators because this is a Virginia legislation,

we must focus on the impact of federal laws through the supremacy clause. The impact of this

focuses on the values that our judicial system holds and the importance of the law in which

States must follow those laws.

Secondly, Senators, reduce harm. Gun violence between 1999 and 2016 there were about

300,000 suicides, 200,000 homicides; and 10,000 unintentional deaths. A study in the New

England Journal of Medicine found that firearms were the second leading cause of death for

children, being responsible for 15% of child deaths compared to 20% in motor vehicle

crashes. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that "legal purchase

of a handgun appears to be associated with a long-lasting increased risk of violent death"

According to a March 10, 2016 Lancet study, by implementing federal universal background

checks could reduce firearm deaths by 57-percent, background checks for ammunition

purchases could reduce deaths by 81-percent, and gun identification requirements could

reduce deaths by 83-percent. Senators, by choosing to allow the establishment of a second

amendment sanctuary, we would be allowing these percentages regarding the safety of

individuals to diminish.

Senators, in today’s debate we must weigh the impacts and what’s the best course of action that

would better the quality of life for individuals. We must place our best foot forward to allow

for gun regulations to assist in the ideals of utilitarianism. Senators, we must affirm/negate for

the following two reasons: One, case law, and two reduce in harm.