Rubio: Second Amendment a Constitutional Right, Not a Law

On CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said he opposes further gun laws because the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment refers to a right, not a law. 

He also said the gun debate needs to center around enforcement of existing laws instead of the passage of new ones.

Host Bob Schieffer said to Rubio: “You actually voted to filibuster the debate on guns [last week], will you now continue to filibuster as these various bills come up?”

Rubio responded:

We’re on the bill now and I hope we can open the amendment process. For instance, I hope we can pass an amendment to that bill that says we’re going to start prosecuting people who, illegally, are trying to buy guns and getting around the background check system. I hope we can have a debate about violence in America–about what’s causing this. Everyone’s focused on what people are using to commit the violence, I don’t think there’s nearly enough focus on the violence, which is the fundamental problem that we face.

Rubio went on to say that it’s important “to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans to possess firearms via the Second Amendment, which is a constitutional right,” not a law. 

Added Rubio: “I didn’t write the constitution, that’s in there.” And he argued that because it is constitutional, a “very high standard” needs to be met before anyone considers touching it.