Senate Concurrent Resolution 552

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION EXPRESSING LEGISLATIVE INTENT RELATIVE TO THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS UNDER THE SECOND AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND THE PREEMPTION OF MISSISSIPPI LAW RELATIVE TO THE REGULATION OF THE MANUFACTURE, POSSESSION AND USE OF FIREARMS IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That the Mississippi Legislature finds and declares that:

(a) The Mississippi Legislature of the State of Mississippi is firmly resolved to support and defend the United States Constitution against every aggression, either foreign or domestic, and the Mississippi Legislature is duty bound to watch over and oppose every infraction of those principles which constitute the basis of the Union of the States, because only a faithful observance of those principles can secure the nation's existence and the public happiness;

(b) Acting through the United States Constitution, the people of the several states created the federal government to be their agent in the exercise of a few defined powers, while reserving to the state governments the power to legislate on matters which concern the lives, liberties, and properties of citizens in the ordinary course of affairs;

(c) The limitation of the federal government's power is affirmed under the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the people of the several states to the federal government, and all power not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution of the United States is reserved to the states respectively, or to the people themselves;

(d) Whenever the federal government assumes powers that the people did not grant it in the Constitution, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force;

(e) The several states of the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their federal government. If the government created by the compact among the states were the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powers granted to it by the Constitution, the federal government's discretion, and not the Constitution, would be the measure of those powers. To the contrary, as in all other cases of compacts among powers having no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge itself, as well as infractions of the mode and measure of redress. Although the several states have granted supremacy to laws and treaties made pursuant to the powers granted in the Constitution, such supremacy does not apply to various federal statutes, orders, rules, regulations, or other actions which restrict or prohibit the manufacture, ownership, and use of firearms, firearm accessories, or ammunition exclusively within the borders of Mississippi; such statutes, orders, rules, regulations, and other actions exceed the powers granted to the federal government except to the extent they are necessary and proper for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces of the United States or for the organizing, arming, and disciplining of militia forces actively employed in the service of the United States Armed Forces;

(f) The people of the several states have given Congress the power "to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes," but "regulating commerce" does not include the power to limit citizens' right to keep and bear arms in defense of their families, neighbors, persons, or property, or to dictate to what sort of arms and accessories law-abiding mentally competent Mississippians may buy, sell, exchange, or otherwise possess within the borders of this state;

(g) The people of the several states have also given Congress the power "to lay and collect taxes, duties, imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States" and "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof." These constitutional provisions merely identify the means by which the federal government may execute its limited powers and ought not to be so construed as themselves to give unlimited powers because to do so would be to destroy the balance of power between the federal government and the state governments. We deny any claim that the taxing and spending powers of Congress can be used to diminish in any way the people's right to keep and bear arms;

(h) The people of Mississippi have vested the Mississippi Legislature with the authority to regulate the manufacture, possession, exchange, and use of firearms within this state's borders, subject only to the limits imposed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Mississippi Constitution;

(i) The Mississippi Legislature of the State of Mississippi strongly promotes responsible gun ownership, including parental supervision of minors in the proper use, storage, and ownership of all firearms, the prompt reporting of stolen firearms, and the proper enforcement of all state gun laws; and

(j) The Legislature of the State of Mississippi hereby condemns any unlawful transfer of firearms and the use of any firearm in any criminal or unlawful activity.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be transmitted to the Mississippi congressional delegation, the President of the United States, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.