October 12, 2011
Rep. Justin Amash, Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senator Carl Levin
Washington, DC
To My Legislators:
HR 2613 was sent to the Judiciary Committee in July of 2011. This bill to repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) is critical for the safety of our citizens across the nation. The simple fact of the matter is that the GFSZA has done nothing to DISCOURAGE illegal weapons in school zones across the nation. In the 21 years that have passed since the initial passage of the GFSZA, the percentage of students carrying guns to school has dropped only two percentage points, from 7.9% to 5.9%, and there are no objective data to prove that this drop is anything other than a societal shift completely unrelated to the GFSZA. During the same time period, however, there have been 217 gun-related events in areas covered by the GFSZA resulting in 627 casualties (deaths/injuries/hostages). The objective data clearly demonstrate the failure of this legislation.
Not only does the GFSZA not prevent weapons from being carried on school property, it also insures that anyone faced with a weapons-related situation while on school property is completely defenseless. The average person is forbidden to carry a firearm on school property. Those who are licensed by their state to carry must, under the terms of the GFSZA, do so openly but may not actually fire the weapon in self-defense within 1,000 feet of a school property without facing criminal charges themselves. So not only are persons on school property forbidden to defend themselves, anyone living in the surrounding neighborhood is also forbidden to use a legally-owned firearm to even protect their own property - a blatant violation of the protections guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution. According to the research, waiting for police to respond as one’s only legal recourse under the GFSZA does nothing but insure that the body count will be significant. For every minute it takes police to respond to a weapons-related situation, another three casualties can result. In a city like Detroit, where the average response time to a 911 call is 24 minutes just to arrive on-scene, the results of the GFSZA would be nothing short of disastrous.
Finally, as was already alluded to, while the GFSZA is in-line with current interpretations of the Commerce Clause, which has been turned into Congress’ license to grab unlimited power, something that was never intended by the framers of the Constitution, it is a blatant violation of the protections that were demanded by the legislatures of the States that ratified the Constitution and were enshrined in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The Preamble to the Bill of Rights clearly states this concern:
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution. (emphasis added)
The Second Amendment is there for a reason, and blithely overriding its clearly-defined protections is something that should NEVER happen. In elevating the commerce clause as it has to give itself power to regulate anything merely by asserting that something was provided by way of interstate commerce at some point in its history, Congress has shown the fears of those delegates to be very well-founded; Congress has turned misconstruction and abuse of its power into a highley-developed art form. Congress is using the Constitution to violate the Constitution. The Second Amendment clearly states that citizens have the right to bear (carry) firearms. It does not define the nature or origin of that firearm, nor does it relegate the carry of that firearm to defined spaces. And in that respect, under the clearest declaration of protection accorded by the Second Amendment, the GFSZA is a gross violation of the protections that were demanded by the Conventions of the States.
It is time for the GFSZA to be repealed.
Sincerely,
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