HOUSE ConcurrENT RESOLUTION 49

(By Delegates Rodighiero, Tomblin, N. Brown, R. Thompson and Hicks)

[Introduced January 30, 2020]

 

Declaring West Virginia to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary State.

Whereas, The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, protects the inalienable and individual right of the people to keep and bear arms; and

Whereas, The Supreme Court of the United States in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), affirmed an individual’s right to possess firearms, unconnected with service in a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home; and

Whereas, The Supreme Court of the United States in McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), affirmed that the right of an individual to “keep and bear arms,” as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby made applicable to the states; and

Whereas, The Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939), held that firearms that are part of ordinary military equipment, or with use that could contribute to the common defense, are protected by the Second Amendment; and
            Whereas, Section 22 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution provides that a “person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and state,  and for lawful hunting and recreational use”; and

Whereas, Section 10 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution provides that no “person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, and the judgment of his peers”; and

Whereas, Section 6 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution provides that the “rights of the citizens to be secure in their houses, persons, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated”; and

Whereas, Section 9 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution provides that private property “shall not be taken or damaged for public use, without just compensation”; and

Whereas, The right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental individual right that shall not be infringed; and

Whereas, It is the desire of the Legislature to declare the State of West Virginia as a Sanctuary State for Second Amendment rights and oppose, within the limits of the Constitutions of the United States and West Virginia, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict those rights, and to use the legal means at its disposal to protect the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms, including through legal action, the power of appropriation of public funds and the right to petition for redress of grievances; and

Whereas, The legislators each took an oath to support and defend the United States Constitution and the West Virginia Constitution; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Legislature declares West Virginia to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary State; and further,

That the Legislature opposes any unconstitutional firearms law or any federal or state act, law, order, rule or regulation, which restricts an individual’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms, firearm accessories or ammunition; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates shall forward a copy of this resolution to the Governor, every county commission within the State of West Virginia, and the United States Congress.