SJR7 applies to Congress to call an Article V convention for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment on “firearms regulations and prohibitions.”
The Assembly passed SJR7 on September 14, 2023, by a vote of 53 to 17. We have assigned minuses to the ayes because Article V of the U.S. Constitution was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution—not to misconstrue or abuse its powers. The Second Amendment’s declaratory clause on the “right of the people to keep and bear Arms” protects an individual’s God-given and unalienable right to self-defense, which is not subject to redefinition or a vote from government. Instead of failing to uphold their oath of office and risking a constitutional convention that would restrict the rights of the people, legislators in California and the rest of the several States should “support and defend the Constitution” by acting to immediately nullify all unconstitutional federal laws, including those on firearms. Whenever the federal government assumes undelegated powers, nullification of such acts, as reserved to the States under the 10th Amendment, is the proper remedy.