State Bills of Rights

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I'm sure many of you remember columnist Paul Carpenter from the Allentown Morning Call. He caused quite a stir with his piece about the 75 Moms marching in Bethlehem back on 10/2.

I decided to see if he had written anything new about RKBA (which he hasn't, yet), and in the process discovered this excellent work of his, from 10/1.

He discussed the 2nd Amendment misinterpretation by the antis, and brought up this quote from the Pennsylvania Bill of Rights:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned." [/quote]

This seems like a mighty fine argument against those who trash the 2nd, and I wonder what other states have to say about RKBA in their respective BORs. Is there any kind of compilation anywhere?

zook

[This message has been edited by zook (edited October 28, 2000).]
 
Zook, one interesting thing about the RKBA being present in states' bills of rights: I did a little research about 1995 on the subject of whether the second amendment is "incorporated" via the 14th amendment, and found that the overriding test the Supreme Court uses in determining whether a right contained in the federal BOR is incorporated, is whether the right is considered fundamental. Well, there are several factors in determining whether the right is fundamental - the primary one of these factors is whether the right was/is present in state's bills of rights! I don't have my research right here with me, but IIRC, the RKBA is contained in something like 10 or 11 of the 13 original colonies' bills of rights (which of couse pre-dates the federal Constitution/BOR), and it is usually spelled out in more explicit and certain terms. The right is also contained in a majority of the 50 states' bills of rights - I want to say mid-30s. So, the conclusion of course, is that the RKBA IS fundamental, it IS highly substantive, it IS incorporated as a prohibition against states curtailing the right, and it DOES require "strict scrutiny" review. At least these should be the findings of the Court when the decide (of course it won't if Algore gets to appoint a few).
 
A few years ago there was a law review article written by Kopel, or Kates, or someone like that which discussed all of the other State Constitutions.

Let me give you Arizona's Declaration of Rights written in 1910 (became a state in 1912).

Arizona Constitution
Declaration of Rights (Article 2)

...section 26: Bearing Arms.

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in his defense or of the State shall not be impaired..."

As far as it being a fundemental right, we need go no further than Sir William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the English Common Law.

I paraphrase, "The right to self defense is absolute, and the right to bear arms is a corollary to that right."

Have the anti-gunners chew on that the next time they tell you, "But, no right is absolute..."

I suggest you look it up for yourself.

Rick
 
Illinois Constitution, article 1, section 22:
"Subject only to police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"

Now, why do I have to have a FOID card to exercise this explicit right? And why am I not "allowed" to "bear arms" as guaranteed by my state's constitution?

Do any of you know what "subject only to police powers" means?
 
Sorry, Cheapshot, I guess you weren't around when Morton Grove and Oak Park decided to ban handguns. They decided that the police powers were politicians. So when they decided to ban your guns that made any elected official an officer of the law which allowed the gun banners a right to carry. That fight against the law took a year out of my life. The law even put my brother-in-law in jail. Where did they find his gun? Inside his house where he never took it out of the dresser drawer.
 
shooter 2.5,
Yes, I'm a relative new comer to Illinois and only recently realized how oppressive it's getting here. I live south of you, just across the river where the dead guy is running.
All the campaign commercials shown in this area concern Missouri voters, absolutely nothing is advertized concerning who's who in Illinois. Can you help me out? I know in my district I'm voting for Shimkus (GOA rates him an A).
 
Sorry, can't help you. I voted with my feet 16 years ago and spent 6 in Tn. and 10 in Tx. Check my profile. You might be able to get a copy of this months "American rifleman" and look at the ratings. You are a member aren't you? Perhaps you can go to a gunshop and ask if anyone has a copy. This isn't the year to just use our one vote. we need to work for our candidates. Sorry about the rant.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Idaho Constitution, Article I, Section 11:
The people have the right to
keep and bear arms, which right shall not be abridged;[/quote]

Then after the hubris of the "shall issue" had settled, we have:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>but this provision
shall not prevent the passage of laws to govern the carrying of weapons
concealed on the person nor prevent passage of legislation providing
minimum sentences for crimes committed while in possession of a firearm,
nor prevent the passage of legislation providing penalties for the
possession of firearms by a convicted felon, nor prevent the passage of any
legislation punishing the use of a firearm. No law shall impose licensure,
registration or special taxation on the ownership or possession of firearms
or ammunition. Nor shall any law permit the confiscation of firearms,
except those actually used in the commission of a felony.[/quote]

In Idaho, it has always been the right of its citizens to open carry anywhere within the state. Concealed carry was permitted except when in a mining, logging or railroad camp. My best guess is that this was to give honest miners (etc.) an equal chance against those shifty gamblers. :eek:

Then, at some point, some librals in Boise decided to include a restriction on concealed carry in incorporated cities. Starting in '87, this section has been ammended to restore (albeit under scrutiny) the right to carry concealed in all areas of the state, with the notable exception of court houses and federal buildings.

My wife and I do a lot of camping and we always open carry on federal forest/recreation lands. :D


[This message has been edited by Antipitas (edited October 31, 2000).]
 
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