BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SCR 49
Author: Knight (R), et al.
Amended: 6/27/13
Vote: 21
SUBJECT : Firearms
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This resolution commemorates the five-year
anniversary of the District of Columbia v. Heller decision and
the United States Supreme Courts interpretation of the Second
Amendments right to keep and bear arms.
Senate Floor Amendments of 6/27/13 adds a quote from the
District of Columbia v. Heller decision.
ANALYSIS : This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1.The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land
and the foundation upon which all United States law is built.
2.The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution
provides that "[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to
the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep
and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
3.On June 26, 2008, the United States Supreme Court issued its
historic decision in District of Columbia v. Heller to
recognize that the Second Amendment serves to protect an
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individual's right to keep and bear arms, unconnected to
militia service.
4.For centuries, tyrants have recognized that a disarmed
population is readily dominated. Moreover, two out of three
Americans recognize that their constitutional right to own a
gun was intended to ensure their freedom. To that end, the
Heller decision recognized that the right to keep and bear
arms was codified to, among other things, "safeguard against
tyranny."
5.Private, individual ownership and use of firearms has existed
in every American state throughout the nation's history and
continues to this day as a cherished and fundamental aspect of
American culture.
6.June 26, 2013, will mark the fifth anniversary of the District
of Columbia v. Heller decision.
7.In the District of Columbia v. Heller decision, the Supreme
Court stated that the ruling has its limitations: "Like most
rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not
unlimited?Although we do not undertake an exhaustive
historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second
Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast
doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of
firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding
the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools
and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and
qualifications on the commercial sale of arms."
This resolution commemorates the five-year anniversary of the
District of Columbia v. Heller decision and the United States
Supreme Court's interpretation of the Second Amendment's "right
to keep and bear arms."
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
JG:nl 7/1/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED
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