By Douglas V. Gibbs
There are five tools available to We the People, through our States, to turn this country around.
- Nullification: States, as the final arbiters of the United States Constitution reject, or refuse to implement, unconstitutional laws or actions by the federal government. As Thomas Jefferson states in his draft of the Kentucky Resolutions, "...to take from the States all the powers of self-government and transfer them to a general and consolidated government, without regard to the special delegations and reservations solemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace, happiness or prosperity of these States; and that therefore this commonwealth is determined, as it doubts not its co-States are, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimited powers in no man, or body of men on earth: that in cases of an abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the General Government, being chosen by the people, a change by the people would be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non foederis,) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits: that without this right, they would be under the dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever might exercise this right of judgment for them: that nevertheless, this commonwealth, from motives of regard and respect for its co-States, has wished to communicate with them on the subject: that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alone being parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judge in the last resort of the powers exercised under it, Congress being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, and subject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgment of those by whom, and for whose use itself and its powers were all created and modified..." And Jefferson concluded the document, writing, "And that the rights and liberties of their co-States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked in a common bottom with their own. That they will concur with this commonwealth in considering the said acts as so palpably against the Constitution as to amount to an undisguised declaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure of the powers of the General Government, but that it will proceed in the exercise over these States, of all powers whatsoever: that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, and consolidating them in the hands of the General Government, with a power assumed to bind the States, not merely as the cases made federal, (casus foederis,) but in all cases whatsoever, by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against their consent: that this would be to surrender the form of government we have chosen, and live under one deriving its powers from its own will, and not from our authority; and that the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases not made federal, will concur in declaring these acts void, and of no force, and will each take measures of its own for providing that neither these acts, nor any others of the General Government not plainly and intentionally authorized by the Constitution, shall be exercised within their respective territories."
- Convention: The States have a right to convene with delegates to review federal actions, declare them unconstitutional, and to propose amendments as necessary to adjust the powers of the Constitution. With the 11th Amendment, for example, the powers of the courts were diminished by ratification by the States. The first ten amendments were proposed by the States, and ratified by the States, in 1791 - the last time an Article V. Convention has taken place. Article V. of the Constitution reads: "The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate." In over 200 years, without expiration, 49 of the 50 States have applied for convention, with over 700 applications.
- Peaceful Revolution: This tool includes movements like the TEA Party, and the Constitution Association. Thomas Jefferson said, "We in America do not have government by the majority - we have government by the majority who participate. . . All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." Jefferson was also an optimist regarding We the People, in the face of tyranny: "The good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves."
- Secession: The States are voluntary members of the union. They created the union, and their delegates wrote the U.S. Constitution, and if the federal government breaches that contract, they have a right to secede. Secession also is a valuable tool, for losing a member of the union, in the eyes of the cockroaches in Washington DC, would be a loss of revenue, among other things. The States, as individuals, entered into a contract, and they have a right to separate themselves from that contract, when necessary. Thomas Paine, in his Rights of Man, wrote: "The fact therefore must be that the individuals themselves, each in his own personal and sovereign right, entered into a contract with each other to produce a government: and this is the only mode in which governments have a right to arise, and the only principle on which they have a right to exist." In Federalist 45, James Madison wrote: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite. The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and property of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the state."
John C. Calhoun, representative from South Carolina and Vice President under John Quincy Adams said: “The error is in the assumption that the General Government is a party to the constitutional compact. The States formed the compact, acting as sovereign and independent communities.” Calhoun was a strong supporter of State Sovereignty, and nullification. He wrote in an essay in 1828 titled “South Carolina Exposition and Protest,” arguing that State can veto any law it considered unconstitutional. He pushed for secession, and asserted that nullification could lead to secession and in fact that almost happened in 1832.
In 1832 was an episode known as the "Nullification Crisis," where South Carolina challenged federal tariffs they believed to be unconstitutional. The State legislature passed a proposal nullifying them, declaring the tariffs unconstitutional. In response to the South Carolina’s nullification measure, Congress passed the Force Bill, empowering the President to use military power to force States to obey all federal laws. President Andrew Jackson then sent U.S. Navy warships to Charleston harbor, and South Carolina then nullified the Force Bill, too. It all led to the Compromise Tariff of 1833, proposed by Senator Henry Clay to change the tariff law in a manner which satisfied Calhoun, who by then was in the Senate. The threat of secession was among the tools South Carolina used to ensure the federal government backed off, and returned to a more acceptable role.
Also, remember, the American Revolution was all about the United States seceding from Britain, because of the tyrannical nature of the government, and its refusal to give the sovereign colonies representation while Parliament did as it wanted legislatively to the States.
- Bloody Revolution: This is the final tool, and the one to be used only in a last resort. The founders did not set out to use this tool, but as tensions increased, and the relationship of the colonies and the British government deteriorated, it came to blood in the streets - beginning with the Boston Massacre, and Lexington Green. The Declaration of Independence states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Regarding guns, we are beginning to see a few stories about the States acting upon their Constitutional authorities, and rights:
The 2nd Amendment is clear with its language. "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Or you could say: For the purpose of ensuring the existence of a militia that is in good order (1828 Webster's Dictionary defines "regulated" as meaning "to put in good order" - Originalists define the word as meaning "to make regular"), which is necessary to ensure the security of the States, and their sovereign freedom, from a potentially tyrannical government, the right to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed."
Therefore, all federal gun laws are unconstitutional, as is ex post facto laws (making illegal what was legal when purchased - Article I, Section 9).
As Jefferson stated, all unconstitutional federal laws are null and void, and the States, being voluntary, individual, and sovereign partners in the social contract called the U.S. Constitution, have a right to nullify unconstitutional legislation (and unconstitutional federal court decisions because the federal courts also have no authority over the issue).
Supreme Court Invades Families to Grab Guns - Tea Party dot org
Kansas Lawmakers OK bill to void local gun rules - Yahoo News
BREAKING: Missouri House Votes to Nullify ALL Federal Gun Control - Capitalism Institute
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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