- First, read your State Constitution; you’ll find out a lot about how your State is supposed to work… like the valid method for revising or amending that State’s Constitution.
- Next, look up a few state statutes which contradict what is found in your Constitution; gun laws are a very fertile area for finding these contradictions, though they are by no means exclusive. (If your State’s Constitution has a Bill of Rights, that is also a good place to look as they are most often written in absolute terms.)
Example:
New Mexico State Constitution, Article 2, Section 11 [Freedom of religion.]
Every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no person shall ever be molested or denied any civil or political right or privilege on account of his religious opinion or mode of religious worship. No person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. - Once you have found a law which is contrary to the State Constitution, test it to see if it is actively enforced, this is required because of the law cited in the next step; you may do this by actively defying the law, or by raising the question to law enforcement officials.
Be on the lookout for phrases like “state statutes can restrict what the Constitution says” and similarly phrased statements; that means you’ve hit pay-dirt. - Now that you have found a state statute which will be upheld by armed people, we look at the US Code, specifically Title 18, Part I, Chapter 13, § 241; it reads as follows:
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured—
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
a. Note that it says if two or more persons, this is utterly unqualified and must therefore include a legislature.
b. Note also that the persons charged with upholding this state statute are armed and will routinely intimidate people (why do people get nervous when a police car follows them for a conspicuous distance, it is simply anticipation of this intimidation).
c. The passage of any law which “restricts” some right guaranteed in the State Constitution is, by definition, the oppression of that right. - Now here you might be saying “Wait a second! That section 241 deals with the United States Constitution, not State Constitutions!” and you are right, except that there is a portion of the United States Constitution which is being violated:
a. The Fourteenth Amendment, the first section reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
i. The relevant part says: nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
ii. Any law which alters a state Constitution, or how that State Constitution is applied, prior to officially amending/revising the State Constitution is violating the due process of the law.
b. Example:
South Dakota State Constitution, Article 6, Sec. 24. – Right to bear arms.
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be denied. Violations:
i. SDCL 23-7-44 – Possession of pistols by minors prohibited.
ii. SDCL 22-14-9 – Carrying pistol or revolver without a permit.
iii. SDCL 22-14-23 – Possession in county courthouse.
- Find police officers and a prosecutor willing to uphold the Constitution.
|