Posted on 03/08/2019 5:31:44 AM PST by vannrox
Legislators in Hawaii, which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States, moved this week to bring their concerns about the Second Amendment to the national level.
In Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) No. 42, introduced Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers assert that
in light of the numerous tragic mass shootings at schools, work places, and public events, this body believes that it is necessary to repeal or amend the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.
In the resolution, lawmakers urge Congress to
adopt a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution pursuant to article V of the United States Constitution to clarify the constitutional right to bear arms.
The sponsors of the resolution suggest the Framers’ use of the term “well-regulated militia” was “intended only to restrict the United States Congress from legislating away a state's right to self-defense.”
Hawaii has a history of enacting gun control. In 2016, Hawaii became the first state in the country to add gun owners in the state to the FBI’s centralized database (known as “Rap Back”), which allows federal authorities to notify local law enforcement when a gun owner is arrested. That bill, SB 2954, was co-sponsored by Sen. Roz Baker, who also introduced this week’s resolution.
Resolution co-sponsor Stanley Chang has a similar history of advocatinggun control measures, while other legislators who introduced SCR No.42, like Sen. Laura Thielsen and Sen. Karl Rhoads, have likewise supportedother anti-Second Amendment policies.
The Democrats’ resolution heavily references the 1939 Supreme Court decision United States v. Miller as a precedent for a “collective rights” interpretation of the Second Amendment. They call on Congress “to consider and discuss whether the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution should be repealed or amended to clarify that the right to bear arms is a collective, rather than individual, constitutional right.”
The Supreme Court settled the issue in 2008 in the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller decision, a ruling the resolution says “revitalized” the discussion of individual versus collective rights with respect to firearm ownership.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:
The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Scalia was joined in that ruling by Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito. The individual right interpretation was expanded and made the law of the land in 2010’s McDonald v. Chicago decision.
The difference in Second Amendment interpretations is significant.
As Dahlia Lithwick of Slate has explained, a collective interpretation of the Second Amendment is one generally championed by gun control activists. It holds that the Second Amendment “only protects the states’ authority to maintain formal, organized militias.” As such, the Second Amendment would only apply to federal gun regulations, leaving state and local governments to regulate and prohibit gun ownership as they saw fit.
Hawaii’s attempt comes one week after House Democrats passed the first major gun control legislation in years.
Hawaii’s attempt to have Congress consider whether the Second Amendment should be "repealed or amended" comes one week after House Democrats passed the first major gun control legislation in years.
Individuals will, of course, decide for themselves whether the Founders intended the Second Amendment to be an individual or a collective right. But their own words can help shed light on the issue.
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1776 while drafting the Constitution for Virginia.
This is not the first time Democratic senators in the state of Hawaii have called for congressional action on guns and gun violence, nor is it the first time the state has asserted its right to restrict gun rights. In 2018, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found the state had violated the Second Amendment when law enforcement denied a Vietnam veteran the right to open carry a handgun. Hawaii fought the decision, and the court agreed last month to revisit its ruling, which could ultimately bring the case to the Supreme Court.
The resolution introduced this week now awaits a vote in the state’s legislature.
I move we rescind Hawaii’s statehood instead.
Perhaps we can rescind the act that permitted Hawaii to become a state. That sounds good to me. Plus side would be that it would cut out those stupid left-wing judges that keep interfering with the Executive branch.
Good Lord I’ve come to loathe these people.
Hmmm, the only way to do this would be to secede... how many troops would volunteer to invade Hawaii...
18 states are doing the popular vote thing to... what is wrong with these people? Time for the enforcement of the 14th amendment section 3.
Second the motion.
It began a looong time ago around the age of Woodrow Wilson.
All the blue states must consider this. The people need to know where their reps stand.
Ya know, some people make lotsa money when things like this end up going to the Supreme Court. Even when they know they will lose.
A much better course is to repeal Hawaiian state hood. They do not want to be Americans and should revert to territorial status
They might want to reconsider their “independence” on this one. Be pretty easy to sanction Hawaii and cut off their supply line. There are “international waters” between here and there. lol
Hey, at least they are following the Constitutionally prescribed amendment process and not making cute end-runs.
This will, of course, go nowhere.
At some point, hopefully very soon, the country needs to split up. The Liberals and Leftists can have their coasts. Let them. Let everyone else have the middle. It’s as easy as that.
The Southeast, Midwest and Mountain states can go it alone. Let Oklahoma City become the capital.
This is getting ridiculous.
Rescind Hawaii’s statehood and sell it to the Japanese.
“Individuals will, of course, decide for themselves whether the Founders intended the Second Amendment to be an individual or a collective right. ”
The stupid....it burns.
How about we just shut down all the military bases in Hawaii, I think there are 3? Move all those assets to San Diego, Guam, Philippines and then turn all the military housing into Section 8 apartments for all the illegals and muslim refugees.
All the things you list. Plus 100,000 illegals invading every month. All getting in line for the gibs. It would seem we are witnessing the death throes of a once great nation and are absolutely powerless to do a damn thing about it. Seems to me if we don’t begin to do something that works soon it really will be too late.
18 states are doing the popular vote thing to... what is wrong with these people?
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They are crazy but they are cunning and determined. They push and there’s no resistance so they push some more. The Left fears no limits or reprisals.
Worse, they see conservatives as weak. Unfortunately they are right. The GOP is like a building fascade on a movie set; there is nothing behind it. The people we elect are weak, unprincipled and stupid. The Left gets it and see’s them for what they are — we don’t.
I move we rescind Hawaii’s statehood instead.
Agreed!!!
Be pretty easy to sanction Hawaii and cut off their supply line.
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True, but nobody’s going to do it to a liberal state. The courts would see to that.
I’m sure China would love Peal Harbor.
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