By: David Tripp
9 Jun 2020
The Mason County Board of Commissioners passed a Second Amendment resolution on a 6-1 vote during its regular meeting at the Mason County Airport.
Verification Citation/Source:
Resolution date passed: 9 Jun 2020
Vote Count: 6-1
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS MASON COUNTY, MICHIGAN
RESOLUTION PLEDGING SUPPORT FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 1, SECTION 6 OF THE MICHIGAN CONSTITUTION OF 1963
HONORABLE COMMISSIONERS
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Mason is vested with the authority to supervise and administer the affairs of Mason County government, and is statutorily defined as a body corporate with powers and immunities provided by law; and
WHEREAS, the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 as a means of securing the individual rights and liberties of the American People; and
WHEREAS, the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear arms; and
WHEREAS, each constitutional guarantee, including each amendment embodied in the Bill of Rights, is entitled to equal dignity; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), that the language of the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia, for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home; and
WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court subsequently ruled in McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), that the individual right to keep and bear arms, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment, is incorporated against the state by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Article 1, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963 provides an even more explicit right to keep and bear arms for individual self-defense purposes, stating that “[e]very person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the state”; and
WHEREAS, it is fundamental to our federalist system of government that any state, county, or local statute, act, ordinance, or regulation must be strictly subordinate to and compatible with the state and federal constitutions; and
WHEREAS, elected officials at all levels of Michigan government, including all county commissioners, have taken a solemn oath to support and defend each and every provision of the United States Constitution and Michigan Constitution of 1963; and
WHEREAS, it is the obligation of elected officials at every level of Michigan government, including county commissioners, to support and defend the constitutional rights and liberties of the People, including those guaranteed and protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963; and
WHEREAS, this responsibility includes the duty to refrain from adopting any statute, act, ordinance, or regulation which would violate or be incompatible with the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution or Article 1, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963; and
WHEREAS, it is the desire of the members of the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Mason to reaffirm their oaths and declare their support of the abovementioned individual constitutional right to keep and bear arms; now
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mason County Board of County Commissioners hereby declares its full support of all individual freedoms and liberties safeguarded by the United States and Michigan Constitution, including those secured by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Mason County Board of County Commissioners urges members of the United States Congress, members of the Michigan Legislature, and the governor of Michigan to take all necessary steps to safeguard the individual freedoms and liberties safeguarded by the United States and Michigan Constitutions, including those secured by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution shall be forwarded to the offices of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senator Curt VanderWall, and Representative Jack O’Malley at Lansing, Michigan, and to the offices of Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Gary Peters, Congressman Jack Bergman, and Congressman Bill Huizenga at Washington, D.C.
