2nd Amendment Constitutional Rights

The Second Amendment is not a privilege granted by government; it is a pre-existing, natural right explicitly recognized and protected by our Constitution. “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.”

Those final four words could not be clearer: shall not be infringed.

Every law-abiding and mentally stable citizen of the United States has the right to defend themselves, their family, and their home with the firearm of their choice. Full stop. No permission slip from the government is required, because self-defense is a natural right that predates any legislature.

We’ve all heard the tired slogan pushed after every tragedy: “Guns kill people.” No - people kill people. A firearm is an inanimate object, no different in moral agency than a car, a knife, or a baseball bat. Evil or deranged individuals commit acts of violence, not the tools they unfortunately choose.

Criminals, by definition, do not obey laws. Passing another stack of gun-control statutes only burdens the law-abiding citizen while doing exactly nothing to stop those who have already decided to break the law.

If we genuinely want to reduce violence, we should focus on the actual root cause: mental health. Oregon and America are in the grip of a mental health crisis. Skyrocketing youth suicide rates, untreated severe mental illness, the fentanyl epidemic tearing families apart, and a culture that too often glorifies violence while isolating the vulnerable—these are the issues driving “gun violence,” not the presence of firearms owned by responsible citizens.

We need aggressive early intervention, expanded access to inpatient and outpatient treatment, and a willingness to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who have been adjudicated as dangerous—not endless new restrictions on peaceful Oregonians who have never harmed anyone.

We are not just talking theory with this Marine candidate. Russ McAlmond is a certified NRA handgun instructor where gun safety comes first - always. 

More importantly, he spent years on active duty with the United States Marine Corps teaching young Marines how to safely and effectively employ their service rifles and pistols in defense of this nation. He has seen firsthand what proper training and respect for firearms can accomplish.

Responsible gun ownership saves lives far more often than it ever endangers them - whether it’s a mother protecting her children from a home invasion in rural Josephine County or a shopkeeper defending his livelihood in downtown Portland.

Oregonians are some of the most independent, self-reliant people in America. From the ranchers in Harney County to the loggers on the coast, from the hunters in the Cascades to the families in the Willamette Valley, we understand that when seconds count, help is minutes away.

The police cannot be everywhere, and they have no legal duty to protect individual citizens (the Supreme Court has ruled so repeatedly). Your safety is ultimately your responsibility.That is why he will always defend—without apology or compromise—your Second Amendment rights in the U.S. Senate.

No surrender of our constitutional rights to international bodies or unelected bureaucrats. Oregon doesn’t need another politician who will trade away your freedoms for political votes. Oregon needs a Marine who has trained America’s finest, who understands the difference between liberty and license, and who will stand like a stone wall for the Constitution.