There Should Not Be Stricter Gun Control Laws - Statement Of Steven Symms (r-id), House Of Representatives, Before The Subcommittee On Crime, House Committee On The Judiciary, February 21, 1975

Men such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry were very emphatic about the need for such an amendment prior to ratification of the Constitution, protesting that as first submitted, the document did not guarantee "the right of having arms in your own defense." So important was the right to bear arms to our forefathers that it was placed second in the Bill of Rights, with freedom of expression the only amendment ahead of it. Recognition of the individual's right to bear arms was by no means a new idea, however. In fact, it dates all the way back to the seventeenth-century English Common Law.

My second objection to federal gun laws is purely practical—they do not work…. Common sense tells us that the reason they are classified criminals in the first place is because they are in the habit of breaking laws. There is no reason to assume that they will obey federal gun laws any more than other laws they have broken.

… What would be the effect of outlawing the socalled "Saturday Night Special?" The only lasting effect would be to once again disarm the law-abiding citizen. But in this case, primarily the poor would be penalized—the people who generally live in high-crime neighborhoods but who can scarcely afford an expensive Smith & Wesson for protection. By outlawing inexpensive handguns, we would in effect be denying lower-income people their basic right to self-defense.