Throughout our history, the U.S. Supreme Court has routinely ruled that laws which violate the Constitution have no effect and, therefore, cannot be enforced.

For all intents and purposes, every single law that bans, restricts, or otherwise ‘regulates’ firearms is, therefore, unconstitutional, because the Second Amendment’s language is crystal clear: The right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.”

Not by ‘common sense’ regulations or laws. Not for the purposes of “public safety.” Not for political expediency. Not for any reason.

If the rights to worship freely (or not), speak, gather, and redress government are inviolable, then “shall not be infringed” means exactly what it says. That includes preventing certain people from having guns, like felons or people who someone considers “dangerous.” We already have a law against murder, so making murder by certain devices (like firearms) illegal is pointless.

That said, Jim Pope, a retired Columbus, Ga., police captain, writing in Ammoland, noted that a proposal by majority Democrats in Virginia (which has since been dropped, for now) requiring citizens to surrender certain firearms that had been banned by fiat was pure madness.

And very illegal. And very unconstitutional.

If Virginia Democrats ever ram through a gun confiscation law, Pope recommends Virginians call their local police department and report that government agents are attempting to commit felony theft.

What’s more, Pope notes — and this is key — the state cannot simply take someone’s property because that amounts to a conspiracy to commit theft, which is illegal under Virginia law. Any property valued at $500 or more constitutes a felony; that would apply to most guns.

But more than that, it’s the fact that there are American citizens who appear to be more willing to beg their representatives to preserve their constitutional rights rather than take a stand on behalf of them on their own.

Pope noted that over the Christmas holidays he was spending time with family in Virginia when he was caught off-guard with a bizarre request. Pope said several of his relatives asked him if they ought to give up their firearms to him since he doesn’t live in the Old Dominion.

Either we defend gun rights or the tyrants win

“Think about this,” he said. “My relatives are so scared of their own government that they were considering (giving me/transferring ownership or whatever you want to call it) of their weapons to me for safe keeping from elected tyrants in their state.

“We gun owners have all talked about this happening one day as far back as I can remember and here, I was faced with the reality of it during the Christmas holidays,” Pope noted.

Again, Virginia Democrats were ‘persuaded’ not to introduce a threatened gun confiscation measure, but that doesn’t mean they’re not going to try to do so at some later date.

But, as Pope says, any such law would be “blatantly unconstitutional.”

He noted that the founders did not use the term “shall not be infringed” in any other part of the Constitution except for the Second Amendment. That means they were absolutely resolute about ensuring that all Americans were guaranteed the “right to keep and bear arms,” without exemption, without exception, and completely free of any government regulation.

But wait, you say. The Constitution’s protections apply only to the federal government, not state governments.

Not so fast. There is another constitutional concept that is contained within Article VI, Paragraph 2 known as the “supremacy clause.” According to Cornell Law School, “it establishes that the federal constitution, and federal law generally, take precedence over state laws, and even state constitutions.”

So as long as the Second Amendment remains in effect, it cannot be overridden or superseded by state laws banning or ordering the confiscation of any firearms.

Read Pope’s entire post here.

Sources include:

Ammoland.com

NewsTarget.com