Sen. Chuck Schumer: The Left Must 'Admit There Is A Second Amendment Right To Bear Arms'

Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told host Bob Schieffer that in order to solve the political 'gridlock' around the gun control debate, both Democrats and Republicans need to come out of their 'corners' and move towards the middle. His prescription for the left was that they should 'admit there is a Second Amendment right to bear arms.' Meanwhile, the right must concede 'that no amendment is absolute.'

Schumer said he had spent much of his time in office 'trying to stop bad things from happening,' instead of doing 'good things.' He told Schieffer, 'we need a new paradigm,' and the answer was not 'any one person making a speech,' but rather a shift in the entire discussion between the two camps.

Schumer went on to say that his colleagues on the 'pro-gun side' of the debate should ask how liberals can view each of the other amendments so expansively, but read only the Second Amendment narrowly. Once the left acknowledges a constitutional right to bear arms, Schumer said, the right will perhaps be more willing to read some limitations into the Second Amendment.

Limitations that Schumer would like to see include 'the assault weapons ban,' constraints on clips, and 'making sure mentally unstable people do not get guns.' He said these restrictions would 'not interfere with the fundamental right, but at the same time, make us safer.'

Watch the full clip below, via CNN:

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