By: David Tripp
21 Apr 2020
Carbon County Commissioners have stepped up in response to multiple attempts to infringe on their citizens’ right to bear arms. Assuring the public that they will recognize the inalienable rights recognized in the State and United States Constitution.
Verification Citation/Source: Carbon County Board of Commissioners
Resolution date passed: 21 Apr 2020
Vote Count: 5-0 Unanimous
RESOLUTION 2020-15
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF DECLARING CARBON COUNTY A SECOND AMENDMENT PRESERVE AND IN SUPPORT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees: “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 right of the people to keep and bear arms is further protected from infringement by State and Local Governments pursuant to the Ninth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States in the decision District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, recognized that according to the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America the individual’s right to keep and bear arms is unconnected with the individual’s service in a militia; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States further recognized in the decision McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742, that the Second Amendment to the Constitution was incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment and thereby the right to bear arms was applicable to the States as well as the Federal government; and
WHEREAS, Article 1, Section 12, of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming provides, “The right of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the state shall not be denied.”; and
WHEREAS, from time to time, certain legislation might be introduced in the United States Congress or in the Wyoming State Legislature which could infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and Article 1, Section 12 of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of Carbon County, Wyoming wishes to pass this resolution so the rights of the law-abiding citizens of its county are preserved against any law that would unconstitutionally restrict the rights of the Second Amendment to the citizens of Carbon County; and
NOW THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners, Carbon County, Wyoming assembled this 21st day of April, 2020, that pursuant to Wyoming Statutes §18-3-504 and §18- 3-510;
The Board of County Commissioners hereby declares that public funds of the County shall not be used to restrict the individual rights of the citizens of Carbon County to keep and bear arms as recognized in the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Wyoming; nor shall public funds of the County aid in the restriction of those same individual rights; and
The Board of County Commissioners hereby declares Carbon County, Wyoming a “Second Amendment Preserve,” where the individual rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, and of their use in the security and defense of self, family, others, and property, is supported; and The Board of County Commissioners hereby declares its opposition to unconstitutional restrictions on the right to bear arms, and intends to oppose, within the limits of the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Wyoming, any efforts to unconstitutionally restrict such rights, and to use such legal means at its disposal to protect the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms.
