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Right to Keep and Bear Arms - California Initiative Constitutional Amendment Petition Drive Underway
The Unofficial California RKBA Petition Web Site ^ | 03/10/2004 | William Tell

Posted on 03/10/2004 10:29:00 PM PST by William Tell

Efforts are already underway in California to collect almost a million signatures in an attempt to establish the right to keep and bear arms in the California Constitution.

Successful gathering of the necessary signatures by June 1, 2004 will allow the voters of California to decide at this November's election whether they will recognize the unalienable right to defend one's self, family, and home with firearms.

The text of the proposed amendment is as follows:

The inalienable right to defend life and liberty as set forth in Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution includes the fundamental right of each person to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family and home. This right shall not be infringed. A. All State government action regulating the right of law-abiding persons to acquire and possess arms for the defense of self, family and home, shall be subject to strict scrutiny, in the same respect as the freedoms of speech and of the press. All county, city and local government action on this subject is preempted by state law and this Amendment. B. This Amendment does not limit the State from regulating the acquisition and possession of arms by: felons, minors, the mentally incompetent, and any person subject to restraining orders based upon their own violent conduct.

The use of the term "strict scrutiny" and references to freedom of speech and the press are intended to restrict legislators to the minimum interference with the right and only when no alternatives exist.

An organization called "The Alliance for Civil Rights" has been distributing materials and applications for volunteers. Unfortunately, their website has not been updated yet and the clock is ticking. Rather than wait while signatures could be gathered by motivated members of FreeRepublic, I have created a simple web page which makes available the essential materials for conducting a successful petition drive.

The Unofficial California RKBA Petition Web Site contains a link to the sponsoring organization's web site, The Alliance for Civil Rights, as well as a link to the Golden State 2nd Amendment Council which has made the petition files available.

My web site has links to the individual county petitions in PDF format and an instruction sheet for filling out and submitting petitions.

I have included a recommended course of action for volunteers which reflects the activities which I am carrying out in my county.

There is an email address for this unofficial web site, rkba@sonic.net. Let me know if I can help more.

There are almost 2000 California Freepers. If we had to do this by ourselves, it would take nearly 500 signatures each. But we are not alone. Signatures are already being gathered at gun shows (that is where I signed) and the word is getting out. The unsuccessful effort to repeal SB23, one of the many "assault weapon" laws in California, collected about 570 thousand signatures, about 85% of the number required to put the matter to popular vote. At that time, many who were only concerned about their shotguns might have had little interest. I think they may be listening now.

We can do this but you will need to do your part.

William Tell


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Announcements; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: anotherinfringement; bang; banglist; paulsenakapolesmoker; powertodeny; powertoregulate; rkba
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1 posted on 03/10/2004 10:29:01 PM PST by William Tell
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To: William Tell
Good idea.
2 posted on 03/10/2004 10:35:30 PM PST by B4Ranch (Don't be so open-minded your brains fall out.)
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To: William Tell
If we successfully amend the California Constitution, we will have Shall Issue CCW. I'm confident this measure would pass but we need to get it on the ballot first.
3 posted on 03/10/2004 10:37:55 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: .38sw; 1 FELLOW FREEPER; 100American; 101viking; 1380 KTKZ Sacramento; 1IDVET; 1lawlady; ...
Here's a "heads up" to all California Freepers.
4 posted on 03/10/2004 10:40:48 PM PST by William Tell
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To: William Tell
Thanks for the ping.

I will most certainly sign it.

I don't hold out much hope, but at least it will let them know that there are people in CA who do want to have their rights to keep and bear arms recognized.
5 posted on 03/10/2004 10:43:19 PM PST by FairOpinion ("America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." --- G. W. Bush)
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To: adversarial; Alylonee; AmericanHombre; BibChr; blaze; BornOnTheFourth; budwiesest; Burlem; ...
Sacramento Area ping list.
6 posted on 03/10/2004 10:43:34 PM PST by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: William Tell
Self defense is an inalienable right. There are those who will say "the police will protect you." There are many fine, dedicated police officers but there are few, if any, instances when a policeman has actually prevented an assault on a citizen - they simply can't be everywhere at the same time. If self defense is criminalized, then the best we can expect is to have a very fine report written after we are murdered.
7 posted on 03/10/2004 10:45:13 PM PST by henderson field
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To: William Tell
I'm with you. I'll sign it.
8 posted on 03/10/2004 10:48:08 PM PST by Canticle_of_Deborah
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To: FairOpinion
FairOpinion said: "I will most certainly sign it. "

That could leave us 499 signatures short. Do you have family members or friends who might sign? Can you twist the arm of a pro-gun non-Freeper to get involved and distribute petition forms in your county?

Think of yourself as a match which has just been struck. The match could die in the slightest breeze. Or it could be used to set a mighty fire. Once the fire of freedom is lit in your county, you have done your part.

9 posted on 03/10/2004 10:51:29 PM PST by William Tell
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To: William Tell
I agree with the objective of what you have posited. I'm not a lawyer, but the following does seem to have an overly broad possible interpretation:

B. This Amendment does not limit the State from regulating the acquisition and possession of arms by: felons, minors, the mentally incompetent, and any person subject to restraining orders based upon their own violent conduct.

Is "hate speech" violent? Is a fight in self-defense "violent conduct"? That last phrase seems to me a little too open to tweaking. Is there a way to restrict it more narrowly?

10 posted on 03/10/2004 10:53:04 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The environment is too complex and too important to be managed by central planning.)
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To: William Tell
I'll see if I get other people to sign it too. I just don't like to overpromise.
11 posted on 03/10/2004 10:53:08 PM PST by FairOpinion ("America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." --- G. W. Bush)
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To: William Tell
Thanks! I will be doing my part - linking it to my site and circulating it in my county.

Great Job!

I'm in.
12 posted on 03/10/2004 10:56:47 PM PST by wadeintothem (www.NoJohnKerry.org - Stop Hanoi John!)
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To: Carry_Okie
We want to make it clear to the anti-gun crowd we don't object to common-sense restrictions on guns. So that takes the issue off the table in the sense that its put the lie to the notion we are for a Wild West in California. The gun banners will have the burden of proving why unreasonable and capricious restrictions on gun ownership and self-defense should remain on the statute books.
13 posted on 03/10/2004 11:00:26 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: William Tell
Bump
14 posted on 03/10/2004 11:00:46 PM PST by nickcarraway
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To: Carry_Okie
Carry_Okie said: Is "hate speech" violent? Is a fight in self-defense "violent conduct"? That last phrase seems to me a little too open to tweaking. Is there a way to restrict it more narrowly?

First, a disclaimer: I didn't write it. I believe a lawyer did.

The "violent conduct" may be vague, but the "restraining order" is not. This wording is probably strong enough to have protected Emerson. The Lautenberg law allows the disarming of a person if there is a restraining order at all. I don't believe that Emerson was ever accused of having threatened anyone, but just with having the gun.

15 posted on 03/10/2004 11:00:59 PM PST by William Tell
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To: William Tell
We also need more than one million citizens in Calif-ornia (to start) to peacefully assemble with bayonets attached to their 2nd Amendment arms in their arms.

Reinstitution of our draft after the November elections may influence such self-government.
16 posted on 03/10/2004 11:05:18 PM PST by SevenDaysInMay (Federal judges and justices serve for periods of good behavior, not life. Article III sec. 1)
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To: William Tell
We can do this but you will need to do your part

You got it. As an aside, I was cruising the highways and byways of ca yesterday when I happened to tune in to a talk show out of the SFO bay area and Bill Jones was the guest. For the heck of it, I called in and, after a 45 min wait, was actually able to get thru. My question was about what his position was on the rights of responsible law abiding citizens to carry fire arms and specifically what his position was on 'may' issue vs 'shall' issue. I swear, he had no clue what I was talking about. Instead he rambled on about his efforts to reduce crime, blah, blah, blah. I met to follow up with an email to his office today and now am going to with a copy of this post.

17 posted on 03/10/2004 11:53:17 PM PST by paul51
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To: William Tell
Nice work -- I'd love to get something like this on the ballot in my lifetime. The conventional wisdom would say that you'd need about a buck a signature -- say a million dollars to qualify. The cost of the campaign is entirely dependant on the amount of opposition you get -- it's easier to defeat a proposition in California than to get one approved. But, I digress.

If I could offer a couple of suggestions to your already excellent list:

1) Go to the Post office, and get a handful of voter registration forms. The petition signers have to be registered voters, and it's a constant source of frustration to me to find how few gun owners are actually registered voters. You can sign 'em up and get them to sign the petition on the same day -- sort of a twofer, if you'll pardon the expression.

2. You might also inquire with your local headquarters to see if there's a bounty availble for your club or organization for new registrants, as well. The going rate is ususally about a buck per registered voter, but it can vary.

3. In order to maximize your efforts, go to places where large numbers of likely signers are congregating (eg gun shows).

4. Print up a whole bunch of petition forms. Go to your local supermarket, and ask for some old cardboard boxes (they'll be happy to let you go around back and pick up as many as you want.) Then, cut up the boxes into 9"x15" (for legal sized forms) or 9" x 12" (for letter sized forms) pieces. Tape two pieces of cardboard together, and rubber band three or four petitions to both sides of the cardboard thingy. Go to staples and buy their el-cheapo ballpoint pens (a box of 10 for a buck), and stick one into each of your boards. Now, when you go to collect signatures, you can get a half dozen or so folks signing up simultaneously. During the recall, I was able to average 25 signatures per hour in some places -- (this is a really good rate).

Don't count on getting a bunch of your friends to help you -- they won't. Just go do it yourself, and have fun. And those few folks who DO help -- man, keep their numbers. You'll need to work together again before you know it.

Just my 2 cents.
18 posted on 03/11/2004 12:10:12 AM PST by absalom01
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To: William Tell
Here's hoping this works. Anyway, they said the gov. Davis recall was impossible. Maybe this does have a chance?- even in our loopy liberal state. Bumpity-bump.
19 posted on 03/11/2004 2:39:37 AM PST by fly_so_free (Never underestimate the treachery of the democrat party-Save USA -Vote a dem out of office)
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To: goldstategop
If it passes why would you need a shall issure law. It would be your right to carry any way you wanted.
20 posted on 03/11/2004 2:57:42 AM PST by riverrunner
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