Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee Statement on New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen
Houston, Texas (June 23, 2022)— Today the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen that weakens the standards that some states have put in place to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun.
The below statement can be attributed to Harris County Attorney Christian D Menefee:
“Our country has watched in horror as mass shootings have unfolded over the past several weeks, and countless families have mourned loved ones lost to gun violence. I am extremely disappointed to see that we have met this with expanding access to firearms that puts all of us at a greater risk.Texas has shown that relaxing gun laws and expanding access to firearms threatens our communities, including our children.Today’s decision will only make it more difficult for governments to protect their residents with commonsense gun legislation.
The Supreme Court’s opinion is flawed for a number of reasons, including a cherrypicked review of the history of gun regulation that ignores centuries of regulation of gun ownership by governments seeking to balance citizens’ rights to self-defense with the people’s right to live free from the devastation of gun violence.This opinion is the culmination of a decades-long movement to undermine the rights of Americans by rewriting the meaning of our Constitution.
But today’s decision does not foreclose all regulation of firearms, and we can and should push our legislators to limit the kinds of weapons that are easily accessible and to prevent these weapons from being in the wrong hands.I support the bipartisan efforts in Congress to pass new federal legislation and urge our state legislators to do the same.”
About the Harris County Attorney’s Office
Christian D. Menefee serves as the elected, top civil lawyer for Texas’ largest county. The Harris County Attorney’s Office represents the county in all civil matters including lawsuits. Menefee leads an office of 250 attorneys and staff members. He entered office at 32 years old, making him the youngest person and first African American elected as the Harris County Attorney.
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