A PETITION
for
Enforcement of the Second Amendment
to the Constitution of the United States
To:
John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States of America
WHEREAS:
1.
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the individual
inalienable "right of the people
to keep and bear arms";
2.
Throughout the Constitution and its inseparable Bill of Rights, the words
"the people" have always
meant, at the very minimum, citizens of the United States and its several
states;
3.
Scholarly research overwhelmingly confirms the obvious truth that the
Founders intended to guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms;
4.
Our individual right to own, carry, and use firearms has been confirmed
in U.S. Supreme Court and other federal court
decisions;
5.
The Report of the Subcommittee on
the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate,
Ninety-Seventh Congress, 1982, states: "When
[our ancestors] sought to record forever a guarantee of their rights, they
devoted one full amendment out of ten to nothing but the protection of their
right to keep and bear arms against government interference";
6.
On May 17, 2001, the Attorney General of the United States of America
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";
7.
Recent California edicts ban the purchase, ownership, or sale of firearms
specifically recognized as protected weapons in U.S. vs. Miller, and require registration of similar firearms, in
direct violation of the U.S. Constitution, and such registration has resulted in
forceful harassment of gun owners and confiscation of firearms;
8.
Both houses of the California legislature are, even now, enacting further
unconstitutional edicts that demand the unlawful registration of additional
firearms;
9.
California edicts criminalize the activities of citizens exercising their
Constitutional right and duty to train to become
a "well regulated militia", in direct violation of the clear
wording and intent of the Second Amendment;
10.
Relief from this denial of our Constitutional rights cannot be obtained
through either house of the California Legislature, majorities of which continue
to issue further citizen disarmament edicts in conflict with and repugnant to
the spirit and intent of the Second Amendment;
11.
Relief from this denial of our Constitutional rights cannot be obtained
through the California government's executive branch, which is headed by
Governor Gray Davis, who on July 3, 2001 – the very day before our
Independence Day anniversary – stated through his attorney general, Bill
Lockyer, in the case of Donald M. Bird vs.
Gray Davis et al that:
"[There
is] no legally recognized right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the
United States Constitution…"
and
"...the
[U.S.] Constitution does not provide a private right to bear arms..."
and
"…the
Second Amendment does not protect the possession of a weapon by a private
citizen";
12.
Relief from this denial of our Constitutional rights cannot be obtained
through the California government's judicial branch, which
ruled in Peter Alan Kasler vs. Bill Lockyer, that California's constitution does not guarantee
an individual right to keep and bear arms;
13.
Relief from this denial of our Constitutional rights cannot be obtained
from the federal courts in California because the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled in Hickman vs. Block that "states
alone stand in the position to show legal injury when this right is
infringed";
14.
The inability to obtain relief from the state judiciary and the federal
appellate judiciary carries extremely serious implications in that refusal to
admit a lawsuit results in judicial nullification, and whereas the U.S. Supreme
Court majority opinion in Chambers
vs.
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company
declared "The right to sue and defend
in the courts is the alternative of force. In an organized society, it is the
right conservative of all other rights, and lies at the foundation of orderly
government" ;
15.
Government officials are clearly acting collectively and individually in
violation of their oaths of office to uphold and defend the whole Constitution
of the United States, including the Second Amendment, and are likewise acting
collectively and purposefully to deny Second Amendment rights to the citizens of
California;
16.
We find ourselves repeating our grievances, as did America's Founding
Fathers, who said in the Declaration of Independence "In
every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most
humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated
Injury";
17.
Being peaceable citizens, we seek to resolve these matters in a lawful
manner by calling for enforcement of the supreme law of the land;
18.
A basic, protected right is being blatantly and severely infringed upon
by unconstitutional edicts bearing the name and form of law, that are
oppressively enforced by the executive and judicial authorities of this state;
19.
These fundamental rights are also being expressly repudiated by the
governor of California in a manner that clearly and directly defies the
intentions and wisdom of Americans who fought and died to secure this right and to guarantee it thereafter;
20.
The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees to the people of each state the full
benefit of all rights recognized under the U.S. Constitution, and Americans
living in the state of California are being subjected to gross infringements of
their Second Amendment rights and therefore are being treated unequally under
the law;
21.
California's prohibition of commerce in selected firearms, when in fact
such commerce violates no federal laws, is a usurpation of the power to regulate
interstate commerce specifically delegated to Congress alone;
22.
These oppressive edicts promote governmental disrespect for all
Constitutionally protected rights, and disrespect for the law in general, and
are effectively disarming and
23.
Allowing any state to abrogate the natural and/or civil rights of its
citizens is repugnant to all American society and is forbidden by our
Constitution; because California's cultural and political influence on the
United States is especially powerful, it is the duty of the federal government
-- indeed of all Americans -- to take
action to compel the state of California to immediately
cease its tyrannical abuse of these rights;
24.
President George W. Bush stated on September 20, 2001: “I ask you to
uphold the values of America, and remember why so many have come here. We are in
a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them.”;
therefore upholding the most fundamental of our principles, those outlined in
our Bill of Rights, is a responsibility that must not be ignored or set aside
for political reasons or for the sake of expediency.
WE
THE UNDERSIGNED AMERICANS
do therefore petition John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States, to
come to the immediate aid of American citizens residing in the state of
California in order to restore to them the civil and human rights protected by
the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution;
And
to use any and all powers at his disposal to redress the above-mentioned
grievances by enforcing the Constitution of the United States, and to take any
necessary action against the state of California and its officials to
immediately restore the free exercise of the individual right to keep and bear
arms in California and across the United States;
And
to enjoin the governor of California, its attorney general, its agents, and all
of this state's local police officials and officers, from enforcing any edicts
associated with or which could further abet, perpetuate and escalate the
above-mentioned grievances;
And
to take immediate legal action against the governor, the attorney general, and
any other public servants found in complicity with the aforementioned
infringements, for criminal conspiracy to deprive American citizens of their
Constitutionally protected individual right to keep and bear arms.
[The following section, with the title "Petition for Enforcement of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States" included, should be printed out as a separate page for collecting signatures.]
Petition
for Enforcement of the Second Amendment
to
the Constitution of the United States
PETITION
SIGNATURES
Recognizing that infringement of Constitutional rights in California affects liberty for the Nation as a whole, we the undersigned Americans support the Petition for Enforcement of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Name
(print)________________________________________________
Signature/Date
______________________________________________
City/State__________________________________
Email (optional) __________________________________
Please
mail original signature sheet(s)
ONLY
to: David Codrea, PO Box 4152, Redondo Beach, CA
90277
Send
inquiries to: AshcroftPetition@KeepAndBearArms.com
Your information will be forwarded with the Petition to the Attorney General, but will otherwise not be released to the general public nor used for commercial purposes. Due to volume, we cannot guarantee a personal response to each communication.