Letter to California Attorney General Bill Lockyear:
Where do you stand on the rights of "the People?"

21 July 2003
Matt Warner

I realize that, as Attorney General, you do not create legislation. You do, however, directly influence the enforcement and interpretation of those laws. I write to you at this time to ask you to reconsider your published position (as found at http://www.ag.ca.gov/firearms/2amend.htm) on the Second Amendment to the US Constitution. I believe your position on this Amendment must directly influence you on the other Amendments. Specifically, you state your belief that the 9th Circuit Court has ruled that the Amendments do not apply to the States.

It is noteworthy that the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments all use the term "the People." This phrase has been uniformly interpreted to guarantee individual rights, with the exception of the politically-inconvenient Second Amendment, where its critics go to great lengths to interpret it as referring to anything else. If the "the People" in the Second Amendment can be so easily construed so as to deny individuals their rights, it is logical to wonder when the other Amendments will also be similarly interpreted. So I ask, where do you stand on the rights of "the People?"

As you undoubtedly know, the 9th Circuit is the most frequently overturned and most politically controversial and liberal court in the United States. You also know that laws enacted by the Federal Legislative bodies and rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings take precedence over any ruling by the 9th Circuit or State legislation. A reading of the 14th Amendment and its history clearly indicates that even if the Amendments and Constitution did not apply before July 28, 1868, they did after the passage of that Amendment. Many scholarly works thoroughly document this, including "No State Shall Abridge" by Michael Kent Curtis (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=082231035X&itm=1). The Library of Congress also contains notes about this Amendment and its impact on Civil Rights of all kinds, including the right of women to vote (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jul28.html).

It is clear that the Constitution and all the Amendments apply to every Citizen of this country, regardless of their state of residence. I ask that you keep this in mind when interpreting legislation that may violate the rights of US Citizens as guaranteed by our Founding Fathers. It may not be politically convenient, but it is every official's sworn duty to uphold the Constitution of this great land along with its Amendments.

Sincerely,

Matt Warner