June 20th, 2008
Sign FSA's Petition: "We the People Have the Constitutional Right to Save Lives From Gun Violence"
Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the looming case, District of Columbia v. Heller, about whether DC's handgun ban violates the Second Amendment, there is no doubt that effective gun control measures can, and should, be enacted to save lives from gun violence.
Freedom States Alliance fundamentally disagrees with the gun lobby's confused belief that the Second Amendment grants an "individual right" to keep and bear arms. However, even the gun lobby's misguided interpretation of the Second Amendment does not, in anyway, prohibit life-saving and crime-reducing policies such as:
* Requiring background checks on all gun purchases;
* Limiting handgun purchases to only one per month;
* Requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement officials; and
* Cracking down on illegal guns and gun trafficking.
Regardless of your perspective of whether the Second Amendment was meant to grant the states the right to regulate their state militias -- our perspective at FSA -- the reality is that effective laws are necessary for saving lives from the deadly impact of the nearly 300 million guns in civilian hands in our country. In fact, poll after poll demonstrates that strong majorities of gun owners support common sense gun laws.
That means that we, as Americans, also have "rights." We also have the power to enact measures to save lives from gun violence. No single Supreme Court ruling, no matter how misguided and devoid of precedent, can take that power away from the American people. We draw this right and power straight from the Constitution itself:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
We strongly encourage you to sign our petition below right now to send a clear message to our political leaders that Americans have the right to live free from the fear of gun violence. We will not tolerate excuses for not using every means available, including regulations and policies, to reduce gun violence in America.
In short, no interpretation of the Second Amendment handcuffs our elected leaders from solving our nation's big challenges, gun violence being one of the most critical.
Sincerely,
Freedom States Alliance
I believe that the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the power to enact common sense solutions to save lives from gun violence.
I believe that no interpretation of the Second Amendment should be construed to handcuff our law enforcement officials and our elected leaders from making our communities safer.
I believe there are sensible measures that all Americans, even gun owners, can agree on to effectively crack down on illegal guns and gun trafficking, and to keep deadly firearms out of the wrong hands, as guaranteed by our Constitutional rights.
About the Freedom States Alliance
Freedom States Alliance (FSA) is actively changing the way America thinks about guns in order to build and strengthen the grassroots movement to reduce gun violence. We believe that all Americans deserve to live in a country free from the fear, threat, and devastation caused by gun violence -- each one of us deserves to be safe in our homes, schools, and communities. Our focus is to reduce gun-related deaths and injuries through public awareness campaigns and by providing technical assistance and support to grassroots organizations.
Freedom States Alliance works directly with a network of nine state-based gun violence prevention organizations. Click here to see a list of the Freedom States Alliance Affiliates and to learn more about their work to reduce gun violence.
