David Vitter

U.S. Senator David Vitter of Louisiana is the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month for September. Sen. Vitter is chief sponsor of legislation to cut funding of the United Nations if the UN abridges rights guaranteed in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
 John Michael Snyder, CCRKBA Public Affairs Director, nominated the Louisianian for the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month Award.
 Snyder said that, “the gun grabbers, now that they’re finally beginning to get their comeuppance in Congress, are looking for other vehicles through which to continue their nefarious attacks on the right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms.  Their primary vehicle right now is the United Nations.  There is an ongoing political battle for the preservation of gun rights because of the activities of that organization and of some of its entities.
 “Fortunately, Dave Vitter recognizes this threat and is working to do something about it.  For this reason, as well as for his general support for Second Amendment rights in Congress, we think he most certainly deserves this Award.”
 “The UN has no business interfering with the Second Amendment rights guaranteed by our Constitution,” says Vitter.  “That is why I am introducing legislation to safeguard our citizens against any potential infringement of their Second Amendment rights.”
 Vitter stated in the U.S. Senate that, “in July, 2001, the UN convened a conference, known as the ‘Conference on the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.’  One outcome of the conference was a resolution entitled, ‘The United Nations Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.’  This resolution calls for actions that could abridge the Second Amendment rights of individuals in the United States, including: (1) national registries and tracking lists of legal firearms; (2) the establishment of an international tracking certificate, which could be used to ensure UN monitoring of the export, import, transit, stocking and storage of small arms and light weapons; and (3) worldwide record keeping for an indefinite amount of time on the manufacture, holding and transfer of small arms and light weapons.”
 Vitter noted that, “the UN also wishes to establish a system for tracking small arms and light weapons.  How would they do this?  It would be done by forcing legal, licensed gun manufacturers to create identifiable marks for each nation.  The gun manufacturers’ lists would then be provided to international authorities on behalf of the UN.”
 Vitter stated also that, “Some at the UN have suggested that tracing certain financial transactions of a legal and law-abiding gun industry could be a useful tool in tracking firearms.  What would such a tracing entail?  Does the UN expect to receive private U.S. banking records of a legal and law-abiding industry? 
 “Furthermore, the UN has encouraged member states to integrate measures to control ammunition with respect to small arms, and some members have expressed a desire to tax international arms sales.  The UN has no legal right to collect a tax from American citizens to further any agenda, especially gun control measures.”
 Sen. Vitter states that the Second Amendment “means that law-abiding citizens have the right to own firearms – no ifs, ands or buts.”
 He notes further that he has “fought hard to protect this sacred right in many ways, including fighting against all gun control measures which erode Second Amendment rights, voting to curb class action lawsuits against firearm and ammunition manufacturers, voting to allow residents of the District of Columbia to own firearms, and co-authoring legislation to allow current and former law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons.
 “We need to make certain that we are expending the maximum effort prosecuting existing laws before we even begin to consider passing new ones.  That’s why I have strongly supported Project Exile, which gives grants to states that implement mandatory sentences for gun-related offenses.”
 Elected just last year to the United States Senate, Vitter had been a U.S. Representative from 1999 until then.  Prior to his service in Congress, Vitter served over seven years in the Louisiana House of Representatives.  While there, he was a business attorney and adjunct law professor at Loyola and Tulane universities.  Born May 3, 1961 in New Orleans, he holds a JD from Tulane School of Law.