Dear Conservative,
Just before Christmas, I told you that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution apparently didn’t apply to 26% of all Americans. Since then, two of the most anti-Second Amendment states have fallen in the Courts!
In February, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Peruta v. San Diego that one of California’s gun control laws is unconstitutional. Despite the fact that the Second Amendment provides citizens with a right to keep and bear arms, California has prohibited the average citizen from carrying a weapon in public for self-defense. In California, concealed handgun permit applicants were first required to show a “good cause.”
It is obvious that this law was completely unconstitutional. There is not a single other part of the Bill of Rights that forces people to show a “good cause” or “justifiable need” before they are allowed to exercise their rights. The three judge panel of the 9th Circuit ruled that "the right to bear arms includes the right to carry an operable arm outside the home for the lawful purpose of self-defense."
Again, this may seem pretty obvious. But when dealing with the gun control crowd, it is foolish to assume that they understand common sense…
Well, just this week the next shoe dropped, this time on Hawaii’s gun control laws. The 9th Circuit has just reversed a Hawaii District Court ruling that denied an applicant’s gun permit for lack of good cause!
The tide is turning! In just the past year, 52.6 Million Americans have had their Second Amendment rights restored by circuit courts! Illinois, California, and Hawaii are no longer allowed to require that concealed carry permit applicants show a good and substantial reason to be allowed to exercise their constitutional rights! But these victories are vulnerable. There is no telling whether the Supreme Court will uphold these rulings.
This is no time to rest on our laurels! While the Courts have protected and upheld the rights of California, Hawaii, and Illinois residents, the right to keep and bear arms is still being denied to 13.33% of the American people! We cannot stop fighting until every American’s Second Amendment rights are upheld and respected!
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in Heller vs. DC that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia explained that the Second Amendment protects the rights of qualified individuals to carry handguns for self-defense.
Now that California, Illinois, and Hawaii have had their gun control law overturned, only SIX socialist anti-gun states remain! In New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia, residents are still prohibited from exercising their Second Amendment rights or forced to meet literally impossible qualifications. In Connecticut and Delaware, the issuance of concealed weapons permits is at the discretion of local police officers.
The vast majority of states (42 out of 50) support the right of the people to bear arms for self-defense outside the home. Many readers probably live in one of these Free States where Constitutional rights are actually respected.
But imagine if you lived in one of these states behind the gun control ‘Iron Curtain’... Or even worse… imagine if the Supreme Court actually ruled and determined that carrying a weapon outside the home wasn’t protected by the Second Amendment!
Despite the Constitution promising American citizens the right to carry a weapon, Liberal states on the East and West Coasts are forcing residents to prove why they need to carry. As I have said before, no one asked Rosa Parks why she needed to sit at the front of the bus and no one has asked Oliver L. Brown why his African-American children really needed to attend segregated school in Topeka, Kansas. It would be completely unconscionable to apply a “justifiable need” or “substantial reason” standard to any other part of the Bill of Rights. Yet, through our silence, we continue to allow the Democrats and RINOs in Congress and the State Legislatures to violate the rights of our fellow Americans without fear of any repercussion.
Where you live shouldn’t determine what Constitutional rights apply. It shouldn’t matter which side of the Delaware or Potomac rivers you live on. The Constitution should apply to EVERYONE!
However, in each of these gun control states, liberal Democrats and RINOs have maintained control over the state legislatures, which has allowed them to slowly and incrementally chip away at your Second Amendment rights. While the Seventh and Ninth Circuits have upheld the people’s rights, the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Circuit Courts have actually ruled that there is nothing wrong with the States infringing on citizens’ rights. The only defense they have is that these laws have been on the books for so long that they are “presumptively lawful.”
What does that even mean? Presumptively lawful? Slavery was presumptively lawful… until it wasn’t!
Currently, a New Jersey case, Drake vs. Jerejian, is waiting before the Supreme Court. The case is arguing that New Jersey’s “justifiable need” requirement to carry a gun for self-defense is unconstitutional. Not surprisingly, Chris Christie has requested that the Court deny the petition completely, stating that the only people who should be allowed to defend themselves are those who have a “special need” to respond to a “special danger.”
The Second Amendment couldn’t possibly be clearer, and the Supreme Court has ruled in McDonald vs. Chicago that the Second Amendment without a doubt applies to states and towns, not just the Federal Government.
So, how are these constitutional violations permissible in our society? Because we allow them to be!
Speaking on behalf of the 19 states that have filed Supreme Court briefs in support of New Jersey gun owners, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead warns that if these anti-gun court rulings are allowed to stand, “states providing greater protections than New Jersey under the Second Amendment may be preempted by future federal action.”
We must stand up on behalf of these Americans living behind the gun control Iron Curtain. As long as it is acceptable for the government to require a “justifiable need” to exercise one constitutional right, then all of our constitutional rights are in jeopardy!
I am not willing to trust the Supreme Court, or any court for that matter, to uphold something as common-sense as the Second Amendment. That is why we must force Congress to pass H. R. 2959, a bill to establish national concealed carry reciprocity, and to stop these Liberal states from violating their residents’ Constitutional rights!
It is important to remember that it is called Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs. When something is a right, you don’t have to prove to anyone why you need it. If you continue to accept clear civil rights violations in states like New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Massachusetts, then Congress will continue to see your silence as a show of support.
But, if you raise your voice with me, if we all raise our voices, we will tell Congress that this assault on Americans’ Second Amendment rights is UNACCEPTABLE! Then, and only then, will success be possible!
If there is to be any chance of restoring Second Amendment rights to ALL Americans, then we need to stand as ONE and tell Congress that these violations will never be tolerated!
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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