State Attorneys General
A Communication From the Chief Legal Officers
of the Following States:
Alabama * Arkansas * Colorado * Florida * Georgia
Idaho * Kansas * Kentucky * Louisiana * Michigan * Missouri
Montana * Nebraska * Nevada * New Hampshire
North Dakota * Oklahoma * South Carolina * South Dakota * Texas
Utah * Wisconsin * Wyoming
June 11, 2009
The Honorable Eric Holder
United States Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
Via facsimile
Dear Attorney General Holder:
We the undersigned Attorneys General respectfully write to express our opposition to the
reinstatement of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994’s semi-automatic
firearms prohibition, which is commonly referred to as the assault weapons ban.
As the states’ top law enforcement officials, we share the Obama Administration’s commitment
to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep
concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting lawabiding
Americans’ access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems.
So, we were pleased by the President’s recent comments indicating his desire to enforce current
laws – rather than reinstate the ban on so-called assault weapons.
As you know, the 1994 ban on so-called ‘assault weapons’ did not apply to machine guns or
other fully automatic firearms. Machine gun ownership was first regulated when the National
Firearms Act was passed in 1934. And more than twenty years ago, Congress took additional
steps to ban fully automatic weapons. Because fully automatic machine guns have already been
banned, we do not believe that further restricting law-abiding Americans’ access to certain semiautomatic
firearms serves any real law enforcement purpose.
Recent public statements by congressional leaders reflect that same view. On February 26, 2009,
The Hill newspaper quoted the Senate Majority Leader’s spokesman saying: “Sen. Reid would
oppose an effort [to] reinstate the ban.” When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was recently asked
whether she supports reinstating the 1994 ban, the Speaker reportedly responded “No…I think
we need to enforce the laws we have right now.” We agree with the Speaker and the Majority
Leader.
The same sentiment has also been expressed to you by sixty-five (65) Congressional Democrats
in a letter dated March 17, 2009. In that letter, they astutely noted, “It is hard to believe the ban
would be…effective in controlling crime by well-funded international drug traffickers, who
regularly use grenade launchers, anti-tank rockets, and other weapons that are not available on
the civilian market in the United States.”
The Honorable Eric Holder
Page 2
Under Title 18, Section 924 of the U.S. Code, knowingly transferring a firearm to an individual
who will use that firearm to commit a violent or drug-related crime is already a federal offense.
Similarly, it is also a felony to possess a firearm for the purpose of furthering drug trafficking.
At a recent Congressional hearing, Kumar Kibble, the Deputy Director of the Immigration and
Custom Enforcement’s Office of Investigations, testified that the Patriot Act included changes to
Title 18, Section 554 of the U.S. Code, which improved federal authorities’ ability to investigate
and prosecute illegal smuggling.
As Attorneys General, we are committed to defending our constituents’ constitutional rights –
including their constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms. This duty is particularly
important in light of the United States Supreme Court’s recent Heller decision, which held that
the Second Amendment “elevated above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible
citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.” The high court’s landmark decision
affirmed that individual Americans have a constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms.
We, the undersigned Attorneys General, are staunch defenders of that right and believe that it
should not be encroached upon without sound justification – and a clear law enforcement
purpose.
We are pleased that the Administration appears to conform with the Congressional leadership’s
position on this very important issue. Importantly, the White House website no longer calls for
the reinstatement of the 1994 ban. In fact, it expressly acknowledges “the great conservation
legacy of America’s hunters.” We share that appreciation for hunters and are committed to
defending our Second Amendment rights—which is why we believe that additional gun control
laws are unnecessary. Instead, authorities need to enforce laws that are already in place.
As Attorneys General, we look forward to working with you and President Obama on commonsense
law enforcement solutions to transnational crime. We stand ready to cooperate and
collaborate on crime prevention and law enforcement initiatives that will protect our
constituents, crack down on transnational crime, and help reduce narcotics consumption in the
United States. But, for the reasons explained in this letter, we do not believe that reinstating the
1994 assault weapons ban will solve the problems currently facing the United States or Mexico.
Sincerely,
Dustin McDaniel Greg Abbott
Attorney General of Arkansas Attorney General of Texas
Troy King John W. Suthers
Attorney General of Alabama Attorney General of Colorado
Bill McCollum Thurbert E. Baker
Attorney General of Florida Attorney General of Georgia
The Honorable Eric Holder
Page 3
Lawrence G. Wasden Steve Six
Attorney General of Idaho Attorney General of Kansas
Jack Conway James D. Caldwell
Attorney General of Kentucky Attorney General of Louisiana
Mike Cox Chris Koster
Attorney General of Michigan Attorney General of Missouri
Steve Bullock Jon Bruning
Attorney General of Montana Attorney General of Nebraska
Catherine Cortez Masto Kelly A. Ayotte
Attorney General of Nevada Attorney General of New Hampshire
Wayne Stenehjem W.A. Edmondson
Attorney General of North Dakota Attorney General of Oklahoma
Henry McMaster Lawrence Long
Attorney General of South Carolina Attorney General of South Dakota
Mark L. Shurtleff J.B. Van Hollen
Attorney General of Utah Attorney General of Wisconsin
Bruce A. Salzburg
Attorney General of Wyoming
