(cont.)
It is exactly the same as Californians being told by the state which church they can and can't attend, how often they can buy "approved" Bibles, and that they first have to be tested and licensed in order to buy one. There would be lists of "registered" Catholics, Jews, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. Imagine the outrage that would result if California passed any such laws.
But each year, California's legislators enact even more "gun control" laws. Another nine went into effect on Jan. 1. These laws (exactly like the old segregation laws) ignore the individual civil rights of California's firearms owners.
By contrast, at the federal level, things are quite different.
On May 17, 2001, John Ashcroft, the attorney general of the United States, stated his legal opinion that "the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."
More recently, in U.S. vs. Emerson, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit held that "the Second Amendment recognizes the right of individual citizens to own and possess firearms. ..."
In a National Review interview, Nelson Lund, a professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law, stated "(The Emerson ruling) is the most important and favorable Second Amendment judicial decision in American history. For the first time, a federal court of appeals has unambiguously held that the right to keep and bear arms belongs to individual citizens."
Because California's governor, attorney general, legislators and courts just don't get it, it's time for the federal government to go to California in the exact same way they went to Alabama in the 1960s -- to restore civil rights.
To make this happen, a "Petition for Enforcement of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States" is being circulated nationwide. It will be sent to the attorney general of the United States. The petition can be found at [url]keepandbeararms.com/petition[/url].
So far, (and entirely by word of mouth) tens of thousands of people from all 50 states have signed the petition and over 1,000 new signatures are arriving each week. Download the petition and read it. No matter how you may feel about firearms, please sign it.
All elected and appointed officials in the United States are required to take a solemn oath of office to support and defend the entire U.S. Constitution, and that includes the Second Amendment. When they don't, it's a civil rights matter.
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[i]David Peltz lives in Reseda. Write to him by e-mail at [email]
[email protected][/email].[/i]