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| | HR0855 | | LRB099 15137 MST 39363 r |
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1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, Gun violence is an ever present problem in the |
3 | | State, as well as nationwide; an example of which is 8 persons |
4 | | dying in Chicago in one week in October due to gun violence; |
5 | | and |
6 | | WHEREAS, In the past few years, court rulings, including |
7 | | the United States Supreme Court in District of Columbia V. |
8 | | Heller, in interpreting the Second Amendment to the United |
9 | | States Constitution have overturned long standing precedent, |
10 | | which had supported state and local authority to deny gun |
11 | | possession when necessary to promote and protect public safety; |
12 | | in order to reach its decision, the 5 member majority of the |
13 | | United States Supreme Court either ignored or misinterpreted |
14 | | much of the clear and plain wording of the Second Amendment; |
15 | | and |
16 | | WHEREAS, As stated by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stevens in |
17 | | his well-thought out dissent on behalf of 4 Justices in Heller: |
18 | | "The Second Amendment was adopted to protect the right of the |
19 | | people of each of the several States to maintain a |
20 | | well-regulated militia. It was a response to concerns raised |
21 | | during ratification of the Constitution that the power of |
22 | | Congress to disarm the state militias and create a national |
23 | | standing army posed an intolerable threat to the sovereignty of |
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1 | | the several States. Neither the text of the Amendment nor the |
2 | | arguments advanced by its proponents evidenced the slightest |
3 | | interest in limiting any legislature's authority to regulate |
4 | | private civilian uses of firearms. Specifically, there is no |
5 | | indication that the Framers of the Amendment intended to |
6 | | enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the |
7 | | Constitution."; rather the Second Amendment's original purpose |
8 | | was to act as a check on federal gun-making policy, not to |
9 | | prevent individual states from creating gun policy as they saw |
10 | | fit; and
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11 | | WHEREAS, The legal view of the Second Amendment as a |
12 | | collective, militia right, and not an individual right, held |
13 | | for over 200 years until the Heller decision in 2008, which |
14 | | invalidated a law barring individuals from possessing a handgun |
15 | | not registered before the law took effect and annual |
16 | | registrations for the remaining handguns; and
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17 | | WHEREAS, The Heller decision and other pro-firearm |
18 | | industry court rulings have resulted in a proliferation of guns |
19 | | in numerous communities and have diminished the security and |
20 | | freedom of our citizens to enjoy a life free of gun violence; |
21 | | living with the fear of gun violence is contrary to living in a |
22 | | free society; high levels of gun violence are a threat to the |
23 | | security of whole communities; and
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1 | | WHEREAS, The cost of gun violence has been pushed onto |
2 | | everyone except the people and companies that produce and sell |
3 | | firearms; the firearms industry benefits financially when more |
4 | | guns are sold; more firearms in circulation leads to more gun |
5 | | crimes, homicides, and suicides to the extent that gun-related |
6 | | deaths will soon exceed the number of deaths in automotive |
7 | | crashes; but the Heller decision effectively said that most of |
8 | | the Second Amendment should be disregarded in favor of the part |
9 | | that is most profitable to the firearms industry, "the right of |
10 | | the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"; and
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11 | | WHEREAS, Throughout the history of the United States, |
12 | | federal and state laws have regularly placed restrictions on |
13 | | who can legally own, possess, and use firearms; even prior to |
14 | | the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, gun control laws |
15 | | were enacted; therefore laws restricting gun access are not |
16 | | anomalous to American law; and
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17 | | WHEREAS, Before these court decisions, state legislatures |
18 | | had been able to pass laws restricting gun access if it was in |
19 | | the best interests of public safety; therefore, be it
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20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
21 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
22 | | urge the courts, especially the United States Supreme Court, to |
23 | | restore interpretation of the Second Amendment as a right |