Members of the Council,
My Name is Moises Valencia, I was Born and raised in New Rochelle. I’m also a former student; I have a younger sibling in our school system. I understand the need that all our children be safe. However, laws must be enacted based on reason. We all know criminals don’t obey laws, neither do madmen.
The laws in Connecticut did not stop the heinous acts in Newtown; new laws will not stop future acts from happening. As long as there are evil people in the world determined to commit them.
I want my sibling to be safe but I also want him to have Liberty. I am not willing to sacrifice the guarantee of the latter for a promise of the former.
Ours is a city rich in American history. The monuments to her role in shaping that history; such as the Paine memorial and the statues erected in honor of our citizens who sacrificed their lives so that we could enjoy the blessings of Liberty inspired my youth.
I am saddened that this council is choosing to dishonor their sacrifices with this resolution in favor of the “SAFE Act”.
I understand that some of you have political ambitions, but your ambitions should not come at the expense of our rights.
Besides its passage in the middle of the night and under the cover of darkness this act is unconstitutional.
It directly conflicts with The Second Amendment, the New York State Constitution Article 12 Section 1 and The New York State Civil Rights Law Article 2 Section 4 that states in words that need no interpretation, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms CANNOT be infringed.
Let me remind this council that the oath of every elected official in our republic is to defend and uphold the constitution.
Notice that I have used the word republic, I do so purposefully. The Constitution Guarantees a republican form of Government. Not a democracy.
A republic secures the rights of the minority over the will of the majority. Ayn Rand said it best:
“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities.”
This is not a partisan issue. Liberal Supreme court Justice Hugo Black said. “What is a bill of rights? In the popular sense it is any document setting forth the liberties of the people. I prefer to think of our Bill of Rights as including all provisions of the original Constitution and Amendments that protect individual liberty by barring government from acting in a particular area or from acting except under certain prescribed procedures”
“Some people regard the prohibitions of the Constitution, even its most unequivocal commands, as mere admonitions which Congress need not always observe…it is sometimes said that Congress may abridge a constitutional right if there is a clear and present danger that the free exercise of the right will bring about an evil that Congress has authority to prevent”
“I cannot accept this approach to the Bill of Rights. It is my belief that there are “absolutes” in our Bill of Rights, and that they were put then on purpose by men who knew what words meant, and meant their prohibitions to be “absolutes.”
In specific reference to the second amendment justice Black states:
“Although the Supreme Court has held this Amendment to include only arms necessary to a well-regulated militia, as so construed, its prohibition is absolute.”
The Rights enumerated in the constitution are not granted by that document nor do they depend on it for their existence.
They have always been and always will be inherent to our human nature. They’re not the property of Government to give or take away; they’re the property of the individual.
George Washington said “Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.”
I am here to deliver a message that whatever resolution you enact means nothing since our rights are not dependent on you, or The Govenor or any other public official to graciously allow us to have them.
The Right to keep and bear Arms is the mark of a free citizen. Americans are by birth free citizens not subjects.
In closing Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist papers #78 said:
“…every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this, would be to affirm, that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers, may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
Remember your Oath, we will hold you accountable to it.
Bibliography
Black, Hugo. “The Bill Of Rights” James Madison Lectures, New York University. February 17, 1960. New York. http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/faculty/gertz/hugoblack.htm
Hamilton, Alexander. “Federalist Papers #78”. Independent Journal
Saturday, June 14, 1788. New York. http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa78.htm
Rand, Ayn. “Collectivised Rights”. The Virtue of Selfishness. Signet. New York. November 1, 1964. Pg 102. http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/individual_rights.html
Washington, George. Quote cannot be confirmed as it is not properly documented it is only attributed to him. purported to have been made in an “Address to the Second Session of the First United States Congress, 7 January 1790, according to the Boston Independent Chronicle (14 January 1790)”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Washington
Amendment II. The Bill of Rights U.S. Constitution:
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.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
New York State Constitution Article 12 § 1:
§1. The defense and protection of the state and of the United States is an obligation of all persons within the state. The legislature shall provide for the discharge of this obligation and for the maintenance and regulation of an organized militia.
New article adopted by vote of the people November 6, 1962; repealing and replacing former article adopted November 8, 1938.
http://www.dos.ny.gov/info/constitution.htm
New York Civil Rights – Article 2 – § 4 Right to Keep and Bear Arms
§4. Right to keep and bear arms. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms cannot be infringed.
http://law.onecle.com/new-york/civil-rights/CVR04_4.html
