RESOLUTION NO. 18-09

A RESOLUTION STATING SUPPORT OF FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

WHEREAS, the City Council of Sodaville, Oregon, is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Oregon; and

WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution states that the "right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed"; and

WHEREAS, Article I, Section 27 of the Oregon State Constitution states that the "people shall have the right to bear arms for the defense of themselves, and the State, but the military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power"; and

WHEREAS, the City Council of Sodaville, Oregon, recognizes that the first and last protectors of the United States Constitution are the people of the United States, and that the ability of the people to fulfill that role rests in large part on the peoples' right to bear arms as stated in the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Oregon; and

WHEREAS, the criminal misuse of firearms by those in the criminal element is not a reason to deny the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms by law-abiding citizens; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States in District of Columbia V. Heller upheld the individual rights to bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution, with Justice Scalia's opinion stating that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home; also, the United States Supreme Court in McDonald V. Chicago, invalidated Chicago's handgun ban and held the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to the States; now, therefore:

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT, The City of Sodaville, Oregon, opposes any state or federal law that abridges or is contrary to the provisions of the United States Constitution and the State of Oregon Constitution; and

The City of Sodaville, Oregon, supports the right of the people to lawfully bear arms as stated in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Oregon Constitution and opposes any state or federal law that unconstitutionally restricts a citizen's right to bear arms.

Passed by the Council this 17 day of May, 2018.