Summary:
Pence: “Congress Should Rebuff Attempts To Restrict The Second Amendment And Recognize That Programs Such As National Firearms Registration And The Assault Weapons Ban Are Antithetical To The Constitutional Rights Of Law-Abiding Americans.” According to the Office of Mike Pence, “I support the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms and believe that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens result in less crime. Congress should rebuff attempts to restrict the Second Amendment and recognize that programs such as national firearms registration and the assault weapons ban are antithetical to the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. Furthermore, Congress should recognize the primacy of state law in matters related to firearms purchases and registration and should support state efforts to disarm dangerous criminals.” [Office Of Mike Pence via Wayback Machine, 2010]
April 2014: Pence Called A Bill He Signed Allowing Guns In Locked Cars At School Parking Lots A “Common-Sense Reform.” According to the transcript of a Mike Pence interview on FOX News obtained via Federal News Service, “WALLACE: You spoke at the NRA’s Annual Leadership Conference -- Forum, which is being held in Indianapolis this weekend. You also recently signed a law that would allow guns in locked vehicles in school parking lots. The Indianapolis school superintendent had this to say about that law: "Young people, schools, guns and all of that is a mix for something inappropriate." Question, Governor: Do we really need guns closer to schools? PENCE: Well, let me say, Chris, I have strongly supported the right to keep and bear arms. I truly believe that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens makes our families and our communities more safe, not less safe. And the bill that we just signed here in Indiana really was a common-sense reform. We actually had parents that had a permit to conceal and carry a weapon that were finding them-selves guilty of a felony just by dropping their kids off to school.So we just -- we made a modest change, a common-sense change in Indiana law, and I strongly supported it.” [Federal News Service, 4/27/14]
Pence Called For A Moment Of Silence And Expressed Sympathy For Orlando’s LGBT Community After A Mass Shooting At A Gay Night Club. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence became one of the first Republican leaders to offer his support and prayers to the LGBT community in Orlando following Sunday’s mass shooting in Florida. The governor called for a moment of silence while delivering remarks during a previously scheduled economic development announcement in Carmel. ‘On behalf of all of the people of Indiana,’ Pence said, ‘we express our deepest sympathies, and prayers, especially to those in the LGBT community in the Orlando area, for the loss of loved ones, family members and friends in the midst of this horrific, horrific attack.’” [Indianapolis Star, 6/14/16]
Pence Would Not Answer Whether He Would Support Increased Sexual-Orientation And Gender-Identity Protections After The Mass Shooting At A Gay Nightclub In Orlando. According to The Indianapolis Star, “Gov. Mike Pence became one of the first Republican leaders to offer his support and prayers to the LGBT community in Orlando following Sunday’s mass shooting in Florida. […] The governor, though, did not answer questions about whether he would support increased protections for gender identity and sexual orientation in Indiana or whether the Orlando shooting should be classified a hate crime.” [Indianapolis Star, 6/14/16]
Pence Called The Second Amendment A “Blood-Bought Right.” According to a press release from the office of Representative Pence, “‘But I rise, very briefly, to begin the argument. Specifically, I seek to refute what I believe will be the false federalism argument that many will employ today. To say that the District of Columbia has the right to pass its own gun laws, even when in so doing, they ban and discriminate against the blood-bought right to keep and bear arms that is enshrined in the Constitution.’” [Press Release – Office of Rep. Pence, 9/29/04]