Charles Boustany

Congressman Charles Boustany, M.D. of Lafayette, Louisiana is the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month for March.
 In nominating Rep. Boustany for the Award, John Michael Snyder, CCRKBA Public Affairs Director, said that, “this Louisianian is a most accomplished and distinguished defender of the individual, Second Amendment civil right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms.  He had an outstanding medical career before being elected to the United States House of Representatives.   As a Representative, he has taken a lead in working to combat efforts on the part of international gun grabbers to undermine the Second Amendment rights of all  Americans.  He certainly is most deserving of the CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month Award.”
 Congressman Boustany is the chief sponsor of H.R. 3436, the proposed Second Amendment Protection Act, to withhold funding from the United Nations if the United Nations abridges the rights provided by the Second Amendment.
 The bill was referred to the House Committee on International Relations, under the chairmanship of Rep. Henry J. Hyde of Illinois.  The original cosponsor of H.R. 3436 is Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, a previous CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month.
 “As you may know,” wrote Rep. Boustany, “the United Nations General Assembly first raised the issue of international gun control in a 1995 resolution.  In 2001, the General Assembly adopted a Program of Action designed to infringe upon the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and most recently, the UN met in New York City to finalize an agreement on worldwide gun control.
 “Additionally, the UN granted the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) with management status over Non-Governmental Organizations’ participation in this UN conference.  IANSA is a coalition dedicated to worldwide gun control, and its Director and other pro-gun control advocates would help facilitate the implementation procedures for an official UN Program of Action entitled: The United Nations Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weaponry in All Its Aspects.”
 Rep. Boustany wrote also that he “is opposed to providing financial support to international organizations that infringe upon the constitutionally protected rights of law-abiding Americans.  As such, I was proud to have recently introduced H.R. 3436.  This bill would withhold funding from the UN if it were to abridge the rights provided by our Founding Fathers in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
 “I strongly support the rights of private citizens, as protected under the Second Amendment, to own and possess firearms.  Efforts to ban guns will not solve the problem of gun violence.  I believe we should enforce existing gun laws and punish criminal offenders to the fullest extend of those laws.  In doing so, we must provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to combat criminals, while making certain that the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens are not infringed upon.  The ability of sportsmen, gun enthusiasts, and citizens concerned for their personal safety to own a gun should not be compromised.”
 H.R. 3436 is similar to S. 1488, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, also a previous CCRKBA Gun Rights Defender of the Month.
 Born on February 21, 1956, Charles Boustany was raised in Lafayette.  He and his wife Bridget met on the campus of The University of Louisiana –Lafayette.  They have two children, Erik and Ashley.
 He continued his education at Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans where he received his Doctorate of Medicine.  As part of his training, Charles served as general surgery resident in Louisiana Charity Hospital System and then moved on to become the Chief Resident in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York.  Upon completion of his residency in 1990, Charles chose to return to his native southwest Louisiana.
 He served on the Board of Directors for the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and the Executive Board of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce as Vice President for Governmental Affairs.  He served as President of the Lafayette Parish Medical Society.  He won an at-large seat on the Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee.  He was nominated for Congress and won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004.