BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SCR 49| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SCR 49 Author: Knight (R), et al. Amended: 6/27/13 Vote: 21 _________________________________________________________________ _ SENATE FLOOR : 15-14, 7/8/13 (FAIL) AYES: Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Correa, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Huff, Knight, Nielsen, Roth, Walters, Wright, Wyland NOES: Block, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Evans, Hancock, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Liu, Monning, Padilla, Pavley, Steinberg, Torres NO VOTE RECORDED: Beall, Calderon, De León, Hernandez, Hueso, Lara, Lieu, Wolk, Yee 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: CONTINUED SCR 49 Page 2 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 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." SCR 49 Page 3 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 7/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: NONE RECEIVED **** END ****