The Tenther Grapevine
With regards to gun control, we have heard the imaginative legal theory that the right to bear arms in the U.S. Constitution applies to the state militia, but not to the individual.
Article I, Section 21 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says,
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned.
And the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says,
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.
So here is my question. If Pennsylvania’s Constitution prohibits the State from questioning the right of individual citizens to bear arms, how can it possibly be imagined that the State could have delegated that power to the federal government? Can the state delegate a power which it doesn’t possess?
Steve Palmer is the State Chapter Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Tenth Amendment Center.
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In Washington State- our constitution is also very specific about the individual right:
ARTICLE I
SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.
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