The Genesis of Pennsylvania's Right to Bear Arms

[jtm690]

The following link provides an historical analysis of our right to bear arms that should be required reading for all elected officials, including judges.

http://www.guncite.com/journals/halvt.html

A right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution because the defense of oneself is a God given right, the Constitution merely mandates that the government does not question it.

[jim-analog]

Greetings,

Thanks much for posting this jtm690! Pretty long read that I've started, but not yet finished. We should try to familiarize ourselves with the historical perspectives of our rights; not only for the education, but for use in discussion with those who don't differentiate rights from privileges.

Regards, Jim

The following link provides an historical analysis of our right to bear arms that should be required reading for all elected officials, including judges.

http://www.guncite.com/journals/halvt.html

A right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution because the defense of oneself is a God given right, the Constitution merely mandates that the government does not question it.

[sprrdhawk44]

Excellent post.

[Roland of Gilead]

+1

This will take some reading and re-reading, but I'm looking forward to it.

[Brick]

As important as Section 21 is, please do not forget this:

Reservation of Powers in People
Section 25.

To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate.

[jtm690]

The author of this article, Stephen Halbrook, is a scheduled speaker at this year's National Firearms Law Seminar at the Annual NRA meeting on April 25, 2014 in Indianapolis. Thus, he is a very credible source of information.

[ungawa]

I. Judicial Precedents

When Pennsylvania adopted the first right-to-bear-arms guarantee in the newly independent states in 1776, it did not do so in a vacuum. That it was an established right under common law or natural law seems to be suggested by Commonwealth v. Ray,[22] which declared void a Philadelphia ordinance prohibiting the unlicensed carrying of a firearm on public property. The Pennsylvania Superior Court invalidated the city ordinance on the following grounds:

The right of citizens of Pennsylvania to bear arms in defense of themselves; their property and the State predates any Constitution of the Commonwealth, and has been embodied in every Constitution we have had and is in Article I, § 1, and Article I, § 21 of the present Constitution of Pennsylvania as follows:

"Article I, Section 1. All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.(p.259)

Article I, Section 21. The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned."[23]

The city ordinance at issue in Ray prohibited the unlicensed carrying of firearms in public places during an emergency unless "actively engaged in" defense of life or property.[24] The lower court had declared the requirement of a license to carry firearms void because it "did not contain as an exception to the right of a citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or his property." [25] The Superior Court, reversing in part, found that "[the] right [to bear arms] is a constitutional one and cannot be diminished by any act of the Legislature. If it was included it would be mere surplusage, for it is presumed that all acts of the Legislature are subject to the clear mandate of the Constitution ...."[26]

I guess they found a way around both those pesky issues! Both unlicensed Philly carry and unlicensed state of emergency carry.