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AJR-46 Right to keep and bear arms.(2007-2008)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  August 05, 2008
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 17, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Joint Resolution
No. 46

Introduced  by  Assembly Member Benoit
 (Coauthor(s): Senator Ashburn, Cox, Harman, Runner)
 (Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Anderson, Blakeslee, Huff, La Malfa, Maze, Silva, Villines)

February 07, 2008

Relative to the right to keep and bear arms.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AJR 46, as amended, Benoit. Right to keep and bear arms.
This measure would memorialize the California State Legislature’s declaration of support for the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and for the decision of a certain federal Court of Appeals relating to the right to keep and bear arms.
Fiscal Committee: NO  
WHEREAS, The California State Legislature has consistently supported the civil liberties guaranteed to all American citizens by the federal Bill of Rights; and
WHEREAS, The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees that “[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;” and

WHEREAS, The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have interpreted the Second Amendment to guarantee the individual the private right to keep and bear arms; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that struck down a ban on the possession of a handgun in the home; and

WHEREAS, The Supreme Court of the United States has now interpreted the Second Amendment to guarantee the individual’s preexisting right to keep and bear arms, and found that this right “belongs to all Americans”; and
WHEREAS, The Supreme Court has now struck down the District of Columbia’s ban on the possession of a handgun in the home as a violation of the Second Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Polls have consistently shown that the public views the Second Amendment as guaranteeing the individual the private right to keep and bear arms, the public opposes a handgun ban, and the public supports the right to self-defense, especially in the home; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the California State Legislature supports the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights and supports the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Supreme Court; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States.