1.1A Senate resolution
1.2expressing the sense of the Senate concerning the second amendment to the United
1.3States.
1.4WHEREAS, the second amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the rights
1.5of Americans to keep and bear arms and shall not be infringed; and
1.6WHEREAS, the second amendment protects the rights of self-defense, defense of others
1.7and defense of the nation, and assumes the rights to hunting and sport shooting; and
1.8WHEREAS, it being "necessary to the security of a free State" meant that the right of the
1.9people to bear arms was, and remains, the ultimate barrier to government tyranny; and
1.10WHEREAS, the lawful possession and use of firearms is a long-standing and time honored
1.11tradition in Minnesota and in the United States; and
1.12WHEREAS, in 2008 the United States Supreme Court, in District of Columbia v. Heller,
1.13affirmed the constitutional rights of individual Americans to keep and bear arms; and
1.14WHEREAS, in 2010 the United States Supreme Court, in McDonald v. City of Chicago,
1.15further affirmed that the second amendment right of an individual to keep and bear arms is
1.16incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the fourteenth amendment and applies to the states; and
1.17WHEREAS, the federal government is a government of limited and delineated powers and
1.18is constrained in its actions by the United States Constitution; and
1.19WHEREAS, many gun control laws implicitly assume the guilt of lawful and responsible
1.20firearms owners with little effect on the ability of criminals to obtain firearms to use them
1.21unlawfully; and
2.1WHEREAS, gun control only ensures that law-abiding citizens are powerless in the face of
2.2criminal threat; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.3BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the state of Minnesota will act in conformity with
2.4its sworn duties as duly elected officials charged with its citizens' trust, will uphold the second
2.5amendment of the United States Constitution, and will abide by the decisions of the United
2.6States Supreme Court.
2.7BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the State of Minnesota strongly urges the
2.8President of the United States and the Congress to respect the second amendment to the United
2.9States Constitution, to recognize the multitudes of existing laws related to the manufacture, sale,
2.10and possession of firearms, to reject international treaties that will infringe on American citizens'
2.11right to bear arms, to not violate the rights of law-abiding citizens while deliberating and acting
2.12on any proposed legislation or executive actions concerning firearms, and to acknowledge that
2.13in order to combat gun violence, the country must enforce existing laws and effectively punish
2.14and deter those who commit violent crimes.