Declarations and Resolves Containing An Amendment
to the Maryland Constitution to |
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WHEREAS, Each person has the inalienable
Right to life together with the right to support and defend his or
her life and family in the best manner he or she can, including use of arms,
while being responsible for any actions causing
injury to innocent bystanders; and |
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WHEREAS, The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
was a fundamental Right of English citizens in colonial times
under their Declaration of Rights (1689), under English common law
and based on the Right of each person to defend themself; and |
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WHEREAS, When the English sovereign took
actions to deny, restrict, and otherwise abuse that and
other Rights of colonial citizens contrary to law, the Right to
Keep and Bear Arms was secured for the People of the United States
by the American Revolution; and |
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WHEREAS, That Right was never subsequently
surrendered by the People in any grant of power in
the Constitution of the United States and cannot be
yielded to the State of Maryland since the People owe an
obligation as the reserved military force or reserve
militia of the United States and of Maryland; and |
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WHEREAS, Federal and Maryland State power
to interfere with that Right of the People was, and
remains, limited by the Second Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States which states: and limited by the incorporation of that provision into Maryland's Constitution by its Declaration of Rights, Art. 2, which states: "The Constitution of the United States, and
the Laws made, or which shall be made, in pursuance
thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the authority of the United States, are, and shall
be the Supreme Law of the State; and the Judges of this
State, and all the People of this State, are, and shall
be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or Law of
this State to the contrary notwithstanding";
and |
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WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the specific
prohibition by the Second Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States and Maryland's Declaration of
Rights, Maryland and Federal governments have encroached
and interfered with that Right of the People by
enacting laws and regulations to create
legal mazes and snares to impede the honest and law
abiding in the exercise of their Right and to impede honest people
in defending their lives and families more so than deterring or
impeding violent criminals; and |
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WHEREAS, The United States and the State
of Maryland have exceeded their explicit and enumerated
powers, and continue actions to do so, in violation of
Article IX of the Constitution reserving unenumerated
powers to the People, and in direct opposition to the
warnings of the Founding Fathers against the doctrine of
constructed powers as set forth in the Federalist Papers
#84; and |
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WHEREAS, The United States and the State
of Maryland have neglected their duty to the People by
failing to fully prosecute and sentence most criminals
misusing firearms, thereby abdicating their
responsibility to maintain the public's safety, health,
and welfare; and |
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WHEREAS, The United States and the State
of Maryland have enacted regulations and adopted
enforcement practices (including actions dating back more than
a century) which deny many minority and poor
citizens the opportunity to own firearms, while at the
same time neglecting their protection against violent
criminals; and |
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WHEREAS, It is estimated that over 60
million individuals, representing over half of the
households in America, have chosen to exercise their
Right with one or more arms; and |
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WHEREAS, It is estimated that handguns
and other firearms are lawfully used over 2.5 million
times per year by citizens in self defense; and |
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WHEREAS, The registration of handguns
and waiting requirements to purchase them has had no
effect on crime in large urban areas such as New York City,
Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and has not prevented
criminals from obtaining or manufacturing weapons and
committing crimes; and |
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WHEREAS,
The attempt to control arms is
reminiscent of the attempt to control alcohol during prohibition
(Amendment 18 to the Constitution) and
the government's efforts to restrict freedom
were resisted by the American people
resulting in corruption of law enforcement and reduced
respect for government and the law; and |
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WHEREAS, Governmental costs to enforce
restrictions on firearm use, to register law abiding
firearm owners, or to record firearm signatures and
create other permanent records and registries, denies
resources for prosecution of violent criminals; and |
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WHEREAS, Law enforcement agencies are
not legally required to protect all individual citizens,
nor are they capable of doing so, and individual law
abiding citizens must rely upon themselves to protect
their lives and their families; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED,
That the People of Maryland reaffirm that each law
abiding and responsible person has the Right to Keep and
Bear Arms for defense of himself or his family, and be it further |
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RESOLVED,
That the People of Maryland demand government respect
their civil Right to self-defense and to Keep and Bear Arms by rejecting
firearms laws that violate both the Second and Ninth
Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, while having no
effect on the activities of the criminal element in our
society, and we urge our duly elected members of the
Legislature of Maryland to focus on providing appropriate
resources needed to capture, try and imprison violent
criminals through legislation; and, be it finally |
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RESOLVED,
That the People of Maryland demand that our State’s
lawmakers amend the Maryland Constitution to specifically
recognize each person's Right to self-defense and to Keep and Bear Arms
with: |
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(A1) All persons are, by nature,
free and equal, and have the inherent and inalienable Right
of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties. |
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