Green's Guns and Range    Marshall, Tx.

Purpose:

• Guarantee the law-abiding citizens of Texas their constitutional right, under both the United States and Republic of Texas constitutions, to bear arms in order to prevent the unlawful restriction of their God-given inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, whether that restriction comes from criminals or a government.
• Improve the economy of Texas by increasing the number of firearms and ammunition manufacturers located in Texas.

Proposal:

I. No law-abiding citizen of the State of Texas will be hindered, directly or indirectly, from their constitutional right to protect themselves with a firearm. 

  A.  The State of Texas will not enact any new legislation that removes, prevents, or hinders the right of any law-abiding citizen from purchasing or possessing firearms and/or the ammunition needed for those firearms. For a list of specific types of laws that will be prohibited, see section C below.

  B.  The State of Texas will not endorse, support, enforce, or allow to be enforced within Texas borders any Federal law related to gun ownership that removes, prevents, or hinders the right of any law-abiding citizen from purchasing or possessing firearms and/or the ammunition needed for those firearms. For a list of specific types of laws that will be prohibited, see section C below.

  C.  Types of laws prohibited by this act.

1. Laws that restrict or limit the number of firearms that can be owned by an individual.
2. Laws that increase the ownership criteria beyond the current NICS process or some state-operated equivalent.
3. Laws that increase potential criminal or civil liability for firearm and ammunition manufacturers, wholesalers, and dealers when a firearm or ammunition that has come through their value stream is used in a crime, provided that no negligence on the part of the company can be proved.
4. Laws that restrict the importation or manufacture of any firearm or magazine based on its ammunition capacity.
5. Laws that indirectly prohibit ammunition ownership by instituting cost-prohibitive manufacturing requirements, such as serialization, perishable primers, etc….
6. Laws that indirectly prohibit firearm ownership by instituting cost-prohibitive manufacturing requirements, such as uniquely identified firing pins, integral biometric locks, etc…
7. Laws that restrict the right to concealed carry of a handgun beyond current state regulations.
8. Laws that indirectly hinder ownership of firearms or ammunition by the addition of a national sales tax.
9. Laws that impair firearm ownership by requiring federal-level registry of firearms, transfers, or individual licensing: (Reference HR45 for example).

II. The State of Texas will provide the following relocation incentives for manufacturers and importers of firearms and ammunition who wish to relocate to or start new operations in the state of Texas:

  A.  State-owned land from closed prisons, schools, army bases, etc… will be made available at a lease cost of $1.00 per acre per year.

  B.  Immunity from state property and sales tax for three years for the companies as well as any employees that relocate to Texas with that company.

  C.  These provisions also apply to manufacturers and importers of firearm and ammunition components.

Additional Notes on the Second Amendment:     

The intent of America’s founding fathers when they wrote the Second Amendment has been debated intensely over the last couple of decades. The second amendment reads simply, “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.” The debate centers upon a few key issues that are summarized briefly below.

If this short and simple phrase were the only documentation we had available to us, then there would be legitimate room for debate. Fortunately, we have considerably more information available in the form of letters and papers written by the men who are responsible for creating America’s Constitution and Bill of Rights. These sources provide clarity to the purpose and vision of the Second Amendment.

The following samples of those writings demonstrate that the purpose of the Second Amendment has always been to enable law-abiding citizens to protect themselves from both criminals and a government that might seek to infringe upon their basic human rights.

The vision was for every able-bodied, law-abiding citizen to be prepared to defend himself, his family, his community, and his country. Any law that prohibits or impairs a law-abiding citizen’s ability to fulfill the purpose and vision intended by the Second Amendment is a violation of the Bill of Rights.

Purpose of the Second Amendment:

• Protection Against Criminals
  1. "Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man." Thomas Jefferson
  2. "[A]rms . . . discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property." Thomas Paine
• Protection Against an Out-of-Control Government
  1. "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power." Noah Webster

Vision of the Second Amendment:

• It applies to all Law-Abiding Citizens:
  1. "No free man shall be debarred the use of arms." Thomas Jefferson
  2. "The great object is, that every man be armed." Patrick Henry
  3. "The said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." Samuel Adams
• Its intent is to preserve liberty and order:
  1. "To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms." Richard Henry Lee
  2. "[A]rms . . . discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property." Thomas Paine

Additional Notes on the Texas Constitution:

Every citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in lawful defense of himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime. (Art. I, § 23) (1876; previous versions 1868, 1845)

Note: The Texas Declaration of Independence stated that “[The Mexican government] has demanded us to deliver up our arms, which are essential to our defense—the rightful property of freemen—and formidable only to tyrannical governments.” The Republic of Texas Constitution of 1836 also protected Texans’ right to arms: "Every citizen shall have the right to bear arms in defence of himself and the republic. The military shall at all times and in all cases be subordinate to the civil power.”