Are our 14th Amendment Rights being violated regarding the Second Amendment by the States?
Have you applied for a Concealed Carry Permit? Were you forced to pay for the permit? If so, your Constitutional Rights are being violated.by EJ Moosa
(libertarian)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The attack on our Second Amendment Rights is continuous from those that want more gun control. The approach today is to raise the cost of compliance with laws regarding our right to keep and bear arms, so that it becomes prohibitively expensive. This approach, however, may prove to be unconstitutional.
"We the People" should not have to pay on an individual basis for our Constitutional Rights. They are guaranteed by our Constitution. So when states pass ordinances that require us to pay fees to exercise those rights, I believe they are violating our Constitutional Rights.
Let's have a look at the case of Harper V. Virginia Board of Elections:
"The case was filed by Virginia resident Annie E. Harper, who was unable to register without having to pay a poll tax. She brought the suit on behalf of other poor residents and herself. After being dismissed by a U.S. district court, the case went to the United States Supreme Court.
In a 6 to 3 vote, the Court ruled in favor of Ms. Harper. The Court noted that "a state violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution whenever it makes the affluence of the voter or payment of any fee an electoral standard. Voter qualifications have no relation to wealth."
This ruling reversed a prior decision by the Court, Breedlove v. Suttles, 302 U.S. 277 (1937), which upheld the state's ability to impose poll taxes. "
Source:[link edited for length]
If the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects us from the payment of fees for an electoral standard, why would it also not apply to the Second Amendment and our right to keep and bear arms? Should we not apply the same standard to the Second Amendment?
Requiring us to pay for a weapons permit should fall into this category. We may still be required to register for a permit, as we are required to register to vote, but no fees should be collected.
Nor should those Constitutional Rights be violated as they will be in Illinois if HB 0687 is passed.
[link edited for length]
If this bill becomes law, then citizens of Illinois will be forced to purchase insurance in order to exercise their Second Amendment rights, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms should have no relationship to wealth.
These are my thoughts.
I hope you share your thoughts.
(Special thanks to Magpedtod for referring me to the Harper V Virginia Board of Electors decision)
