Editor of the Reformer:
I accuse Governor Philip Scott, the Senators and Representatives of the Vermont Legislature who voted for and passed the unconstitutional anti 2nd Amendment bill S22 of perjury under Section 56 of the Vermont Constitution.
Section 56
Every officer, whether judicial, executive, or military, in authority under this State, before entering upon the execution of office, shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation of allegiance to this State, (unless the officer shall produce evidence that the officer has before taken the same) and also the following oath or affirmation of office, except military officers, and such as shall be exempted by the Legislature.
The Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance
You do solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will be true and faithful to the State of Vermont and that you will not, directly or indirectly, do any act or thing injurious to the Constitution or Government thereof. (If an affirmation) Under the pains and penalties of perjury.
They are guilty of violating their oath of office to protect the people's rights under the Vermont Constitution and the United States Constitution. The government's only power is the power that is enumerated to it by the Constitution. The federal government, a state or town can not pass a law contrary to the Constitution. Under our Constitution the government is not delegated the authority to legislate, enforce, or adjudicate laws pertaining to the exercise of our rights under the Constitution - Period. A government is not delegated the authority by our Constitution to require government permission to exercise any right granted to us under the Constitution. A government is not delegated the authority by our Constitution to compel us to waive our guaranteed 4th Amendment right to be secure from unwarranted interrogation, search, or seizure in the absence of probable cause of criminal conduct. Or compel us to waive our guaranteed 5th Amendment right to due process as a precondition to being allowed (or denied) the exercise of our right to keep and bear arms. Which happens, however, every time we fill out BATFE form 4473 under penalty of perjury to purchase a firearm. The government is not delegated the authority by our Constitution to compel us to waive our 10th Amendment right to a federal government exercising only those powers delegated to it by the United States Constitution, and State governments are prohibited the exercise of any power prohibited to the States by the United States Constitution.
The founding fathers and the framers of the Constitution wanted its citizenry to have "weapons of war" because it was "necessary to the security of a free state" it was to give checks and balances to the people against a tyrannical government. The citizenry, from the Brown Bess musket to the AR15, was always allowed to have the rifles and pistols of the common American foot soldier. Twice in recent years the meaning of the 2nd Amendment has made it to the Supreme Court. In 2008, in District of Columbia v Heller, it was the court's decision that the right to bear arms is a personal right, a civil right. In 2010, McDonald v Chicago, the court decided we have the right to the same small arms and equipment as the National Guard. If you go to the National Guard website you will find that its rifle of issue is the AR15 with 30-round magazines. Yet state legislators and governors totally disregarding both Supreme Court decisions like Vermont did passing S22. Could you imagine a state ignoring Roe v Wade ? So why is the 2nd Amendment the only right in the Bill of Rights that we need governments to exercise that right ? We have a right to keep and bear arms, not a privilege to keep and bear arms. The Constitution guarantees our rights are beyond the reach of government and no one has to ask government permission to exercise a right.
James Lanese
Newfane, April 14
