Our constitutional rights define who we are as Americans. They are not set in stone – note the 17 additional amendments made since the original 10 – but neither should we allow them to be undermined through onerous legislative restrictions. I feel that too many Americans “support the Constitution” only when it tells them what they want to hear. We see this disappointing hypocrisy most clearly in “left-wing” restrictions on Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms and in “right-wing” restrictions on Americans’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy and personal choice in pregnancy.

Outlawing guns will not end gun violence any more than outlawing abortion will end abortion.

Policy Proposals:

1. Prohibit state-level attempts to evade constitutional oversight via the “Texas Route” – allowing citizens to sue those who get an abortion (in Texas) or gun makers and distributors (in California). These legal maneuvers are unconstitutional and un-American.
2. Protect the right of women to access safe, legal abortion services until viability regardless of their state of residence.
3. Protect the right of Americans to buy semi-automatic firearms after a background check regardless of their state of residence.