By David Tripp
3 Feb 2020
Verification Citation/Source: Bladen County Board of Commissioners
Resolution date passed: 3 Feb 2020
Vote Count: 6-3
WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States is the Supreme Law of our nation; and
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the Constitution states: “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…”; and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Constitution, Article I, Section 30 states: “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; and, as standing armies in time of peace are dangerous to liberty, they shall not be maintained, and the military shall be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. Nothing herein shall justify the practice of carrying concealed weapons, or prevent the General Assembly from enacting penal statutes against that practice;’’ and
WHEREAS, a long line of established U.S. Supreme court cases have ruled where rights are secured by the U.S. Constitution, including Second Amendment Rights, no rule making or legislation may abrogate those rights and the right to “keep and bear arms” is secured by the “due process” and “privileges and immunities” clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment which protects rights of, and closely related to, the Second Amendment; and
WHEREAS, the citizens of Bladen County have long supported the rights of the individual, particularly as those rights exist under the U.S. and North Carolina Constitutions, including the Second Amendment; and
WHEREAS, the Bladen County Board of Commissioners is concerned about the passage of any bill or legislation which could be interpreted as infringing the rights of the citizens of Bladen County to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the Bladen County Board of Commissioners expresses its deep commitment to the rights of all citizens of Bladen County to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, the Bladen County Board of Commissioners wishes to express its opposition to any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and under the North Carolina Constitution of the citizens of Bladen County to keep and bear arms, and all rights and privileges arising therefrom; and
WHEREAS, the Bladen County Board of Commissioners expresses its intent to stand as a Constitutional Rights Protected County for Second Amendment rights and to oppose, within the limits of the Constitution of the United States and the State of North Carolina, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights, and to use such legal means at its disposal to protect the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Bladen County Board of Commissioners, within its powers, duties, and responsibilities, shall respect, protect, and defend the Second Amendment rights of the citizens of Bladen County and the Board will oppose, within the limits of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of North Carolina, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights, and to use such constitutional means at its disposal to protect the rights of its citizens to keep and bear arms.
