The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:
(Here set forth the title and summary prepared by the Attorney General. This title and summary must also be printed across the top of each page of the petition whereon signatures are to appear.)
TO THE HONORABLE SECRETARY OF STATE OF CALIFORNIA
We, the undersigned, registered, qualified voters of California, residents of ___________________ County (or City and County), hereby propose amendments to the Constitution of California, relating to the right to keep and bear arms, and petition the Secretary of State to submit the same to the voters of California for their adoption or rejection at the next succeeding general election or at any special statewide election held prior to that general election or otherwise provided by law. The proposed constitutional amendments (full title and text of the measure) read as follows:
SECTION 1. TITLE. This section of Article I of the California Constitution shall be known and may be cited as "The First Bill of Rights Enforcement Amendment".
SECTION 2. FINDINGS. The People of California find the following:
(1) Police cannot protect, and are not legally liable for failing to protect, individual citizens in any State. The courts have consistently ruled that the police do not have an obligation to protect individuals, only the public in general.
(2) Citizens frequently must use firearms and other weapons to defend themselves, as evidenced by the following:
(A) Every year the people of the United States use guns to defend themselves against criminals more than 2,400,000 times; or more than 6,500 times a day. That means a crime is stopped every 13 seconds and a life is saved every 83 seconds by an armed citizen; a member of the citizen militia.(B) Of the over 2,400,000 self-defense cases, more than 192,000 are by women defending themselves against sexual abuse.
(C) Of the over 2,400,000 times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, 92 percent merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8 percent of the time, does a citizen kill or wound his or her attacker.
(3) The courts have granted immunity from prosecution to police officers who use firearms in the line of duty. Similarly, law-abiding citizens who use firearms and other weapons to protect themselves, other people, property, the public peace and safety and the Country against violence should not be subject to prosecution; or to lawsuits by the violent felons who sought to victimize them.
(4) Law-abiding citizens, seeking only to provide for their own, their families' and neighbors' defense, are routinely prosecuted for brandishing or using a firearm or other weapon in self-defense.
(5) The governments of California and its subdivisions; their legislative bodies, executive officers, regulative agencies, judicial officers and police; are and have been aware of the above facts in detail from their publication in scientific journals; and in essence from experience for many years.
(6) The governments of California and its subdivisions, acting in bad faith and with malice have used unconstitutional statutes, rules and regulations to violate the Constitutions of California and the United States with regard to the right of the people to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes, including but not limited to the defense of themselves, other people, property, the public peace and safety and in the final analysis, the Country itself. The offending officers and employees of the State of California and its subdivisions have used these unconstitutional acts to aggrandize their personal wealth and power; and to visit the depredations of criminals, both individually and in gangs upon the people of California.
(7) The governments of California and its subdivisions, most especially the judicial bench, acting in bad faith and with malice have ignored the fact that an unconstitutional statute is not a law; as stated and explained in the Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, second edition, section 256, to wit:
Section 256. Generally.
The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, whether federal or state, though having the form and name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void, and ineffective for any purpose; since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment, and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it, an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed. Such a statute leaves the question that it purports to settle just as it would be had the statute not been enacted. No repeal of such an enactment is necessary.Since an unconstitutional law is void, the general principles follow that it imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no power or authority on anyone, affords no protection, and justifies no acts performed under it. A contract which rests on an unconstitutional statute creates no obligation to be impaired by subsequent legislation.
No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it. Persons convicted and fined under a statute subsequently held unconstitutional may recover the fines paid.
(8) The judiciary in general has consistently enforced these blatantly unconstitutional acts as though they were laws and steadfastly refused to hear or recognize the constitutionally grounded arguments and defenses against them. The judiciary has also tampered with juries; using the voir dire process to stack juries against defendants; and lied to juries regarding the right and power of jury nullification, saying that the jury may not judge the law as well as the fact. The people therefor find that while it is not legally necessary to repeal these unconstitutional acts, it is most necessary as a practical matter to repeal them.
(9) While it is true that the perpetrators of this criminally unconstitutional legislation and those guilty of its enforcement are legally subject to prosecution and civil action for their crimes under current law; it has been impossible in most cases to press charges or obtain trials or convictions for these crimes. This has been true not only for Police officers who, among other outrages against the People's law, invade and pillage homes, commit armed robbery and falsely arrest and charge innocent people, including the victims of violent crimes. It is also true of the Legislators and Executive Officers who are accomplices before the fact; and prosecutors and Judges who are accomplices after the fact.
(10) Therefor:
It is the will of the Sovereign People of California that those unconstitutional statutes, rules and regulations; which infringe the right of the People to keep and bear arms, and to defend themselves, other people, property, the public peace and safety and the Country; shall be repealed and that the people responsible for their passage and enforcement shall be punished for their crimes.
It is the will of the Sovereign People of California that those people henceforth responsible for the passage or enforcement of those unconstitutional statutes, rules and regulations, whenever passed, shall be subject to new criminal penalties for their crimes, and that a new legal and judicial climate shall prevail for the vigorous prosecution of those crimes committed before the passage of this section.
SECTION 3. The following section is added to Article I of the California Constitution, to read:
(a) The right of the people to keep and bear arms at all times and in all places shall not be infringed. The right of the people to defend themselves, other people, any property, the public peace and safety, or the Country with deadly force at all times and in all places shall not be infringed. The police and military powers of the government derive from the individual right of defense and are inferior to it; therefor the right of defense includes defense against government. The rights to keep and bear arms and to defend shall not be infringed because of status as an employee, customer or visitor of: a business firm, government property or other public accommodation. The rights to keep and bear arms and to defend do not confer a right to commit trespass on private property that is not a public accommodation.
(b)Every statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of whatever kind enacted or adopted by the State or any of its subdivisions; that in any way prohibits, regulates, licenses, monitors, punishes, requires the keeping of records or the provision of any other service to the state or any of its subdivisions, taxes, infringes, delays or requires the payment of money or property to any governmental agency or department, with regard to the manufacturing, repairing, modifying, buying, selling, trading, giving, receiving, lawful using, keeping, or bearing of arms by any law-abiding person or business firm; is hereby repealed. Every statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of whatever kind enacted or adopted by the State or any of its subdivisions; that in any way prohibits, regulates, delays, monitors, punishes, or in any other way infringes or interferes with the right of the people to defend themselves, other people, any property, the public peace and safety, or the Country by any means, from remonstration to the use of deadly force, at all times and in all places; is hereby repealed. Article 2, sec. 10, paragraph (c) of the California Constitution is hereby repealed. Article 3, sec. 3.5 of the California Constitution is hereby repealed.
(c)Every statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of whatever kind enacted or adopted by the State or any of its subdivisions that in any way construes speech as violence or aggression; or in any way prohibits, regulates or punishes speech of any kind; is hereby repealed.
(d)Every provision of the California Constitution, statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation that is repealed or prohibited by this section is in violation of the Constitution of the United States and is null, void, and unenforceable as of the date of its enactment. Every such act, therefore, is not now and has never been a law, or ever had the force of law. No person is or has been bound to obey any such act, and no court is or has been bound or authorized to enforce any such act. Every person convicted of violating any such statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation that is repealed or prohibited by this section is hereby pardoned in full for that conviction. Every record of arrest, trial, conviction, punishment, taxation, or other governmental action in regard to every such statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation that is repealed or prohibited by this section shall forthwith be delivered to the person who was the subject of that action, and no record of the action shall thereafter be retained by the State or any of its subdivisions.
(e)Every tax, fee or impost imposed, taking or theft of property or money, jail or prison sentence or time, or cost of legal defense paid, imposed upon, taken from, or served by any law-abiding person as a result of a tax, fee or impost, fine, civil forfeiture, any other taking, arrest, trial or conviction based upon any provision of the California Constitution, statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of whatever kind that is repealed or prohibited by this section shall henceforth constitute; and at the time of its occurrence did constitute; a cause of action in tort by the law-abiding person against any officer, official, employee or agent of the State or any of its subdivisions who committed the tort against him or her, and against the State and its subdivisions. These causes of action and other remedies and punishments set forth in this section are not subject to any statute of limitations. Every such judgment in tort shall be paid first by the officers, officials, employees, or agents of the State or its subdivisions who committed the tort; to the fullest extent under the law that their assets and income can be taken; and the remainder of the judgment shall be paid by the State or any of its subdivisions to which it is applicable. In the case of money paid by or taken from the law-abiding person; or his or her costs incurred for legal defense, an action in tort, or the recovery of property or the value thereof; interest shall be paid at the rate of 10 percent per annum compounded monthly.
(f)All arms, other property, or money taken from any law-abiding person by any agency of the State or any of its subdivisions as a result of the enforcement of any provision of the California Constitution, statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation of whatever kind that is repealed or prohibited by this section shall be returned forthwith to the person from whom they were taken in the same condition in which they were taken and, in the case of money, interest shall be paid at the rate of 10 percent per annum compounded monthly, except as follows:
(1)Arms and other property held by a court as evidence in a trial may be held for the duration of the trial and shall, at the conclusion thereof, forthwith be disposed of as required by this section.
(2)Upon the conviction of a person for a violent felony, any arms owned by and taken from the convicted person shall be sold at public auction and the proceeds of the sale shall be credited against any fine imposed. If the fine imposed is less than the amount of the proceeds from the sale, or there is no fine imposed, the proceeds from the sale, or balance thereof, shall be paid forthwith as restitution to the victim of the crime or paid forthwith to the former owner of the arms, as the court shall direct. In the event that any arms taken from a convicted violent felon were stolen, the arms shall be returned forthwith to the rightful owner. Upon acquittal of a person for any offense or the cancellation of charges, he or she is a law-abiding person and any arms owned by and taken from the person shall be returned to him or her forthwith. Upon conviction of a person for a nonviolent offense, any arms owned by and taken from the person shall be returned to him or her forthwith upon the completion of sentence.
(3)In the event that any arms rightfully belonging to a law-abiding person cannot be returned to him or her, or the arms are destroyed, damaged, or worn while in government custody or as the result of government taking or other theft, the person representing the State or any of its subdivisions who took the arms from their rightful owner, or the convicted violent felon from whom they were taken, shall pay as restitution to the rightful owner the actual replacement value of the arms that can be replaced with new arms of like kind and quality, or the fair market value of arms that cannot be replaced.
(g)(1)Every provision of the California Constitution, statute, ordinance, rule, or regulation repealed by this section may not be reinstated in any way, in whole or in part, or in intent or effect, nor shall any new act be passed that infringes on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
(2)If the State or any of its subdivisions takes action to reinstate any of those provisions of the California Constitution, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations repealed by this section, in whole or in part, or in intent or effect, or to enact or adopt new acts that infringe on the right of the people to keep and bear arms, the act shall be null and void for any purpose.
(3)Every Member of the Legislature or every member of a lesser legislative body who votes in favor of a new or reinstating act which infringes the right of the people to keep and bear arms; or to exercise any right protected by this Constitution or the Federal Constitution; every executive, such as a governor or mayor, who signs such a legislative act with the intent to enforce it as though it were a law; any and all officials, officers, employees, or agents of the State or any of its subdivisions who enforce or attempt to enforce such an act or the repealed provisions of the California Constitution, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations; or who bring any civil action on behalf of government, themselves or any other party against any person or business firm based on the exercise of any right or the actions of any other party; or who violate any provision of this section, shall be guilty of a felony. The above described voting, signing, enforcing, or bringing of civil action shall constitute a separate violation for each instance of offense against each individual victim so affected. This offense shall be punished by a mandatory sentence of ten years in the state prison at hard labor and a fine of ten thousand dollars. The fines paid and all proceeds from the labor of the offender while in custody shall be applied entirely to restitution for the victims of the offense. Any amount of such fine or proceeds from labor that exceeds the amount of the judgment shall be paid to the victim as further restitution in addition to the judgment. Multiple convictions or convictions for multiple violations shall result in one such mandatory sentence for each conviction or violation. Multiple sentences of imprisonment shall be served consecutively without release. There shall be no parole, or release for any other reason, before the end of the tenth year of: the sentence for a single violation or the final sentence for multiple violations. To insure a fair trial by an impartial jury; the trial shall be by a randomly selected jury of the defendant's peers. In the trial the jurors may not be subject to voir dire beyond a strict determination of a direct interest in the case. In the trial of this offense the jurors will be instructed by the judge as to their right and power of jury nullification; to judge both the law and the fact according to principles of justice and conscience; and to acquit for any reason or for none. There shall be no restriction on the defense as to the nature or grounds of argument or evidence. Every person convicted under this section shall be disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the State of California. The criminal sanctions set forth in this section are not subject to any statute of limitations. The above described voting, signing, enforcing, or bringing of civil action, by any or all legislators, officials, officers, employees, or agents of the State or any of its subdivisions, in each instance committed against each individual victim so affected on or before the date of adoption by the electors of this section are subject to civil action or prosecution under the common law or the laws then pertinent, or both civil action and criminal prosecution, for violations of civil rights and other crimes against persons or property; and no statute of limitations shall apply to any such civil action or prosecution.
(h) Any person, business firm, other legal entity or; government, government agency, officer, employee or agent; that infringes the right of any law-abiding person to keep or bear arms, or to defend; as a condition of employment, any other privilege or the exercise of any right or duty; is guilty of violating that person's civil rights and assumes strict liability in law and tort for that civil rights violation and any other resulting crime, injury, death, theft or damage that may be committed against or befall the person or: other people or property under his or her protection; which crime, injury, death, theft or damage may be prevented or stopped by the use of arms.
(i) Every law abiding person who defends himself or herself, other people, any property, the public peace and safety, or the Country by any means from remonstration to the use of deadly force shall be immune from criminal prosecution for that defensive action. The person so defending shall be immune from civil action based upon that defensive action; on the part of the state or its subdivisions, their officials, officers, employees, or agents, the assailant or assailants he or she defended against, or their estates, families, heirs or assigns, or any other party.
(j)The Legislature shall not propose to the electors of the State the amendment or repeal of this section of the Constitution.
(k) The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
(l) The following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Right" means the legal ability of an individual natural person to take an action or refrain from taking an action, or to maintain a particular status, such as the ownership of property. A right may not be prohibited, regulated, licensed, permitted, taxed, monitored, punished or in any other way interfered with by any government, group, or organization. Rights are therefor not subject to any democratic or governmental process except to guarantee and protect them. A right by its nature is peculiar to an individual and is not collective or additive in governments, groups or organizations. A right by its nature is absolute, being limited only by the infringement of other individual's rights. A right is legitimately defended by any means from remonstration to the use of deadly force. People acting together in groups or business firms have only the same rights that they have as individuals. Governments and their subdivisions have no rights; but only the responsibilities and assigned powers to carry them out that are granted in Constitutions or similar instruments by the sovereign People. A person, when acting as a part of; or on behalf of; a government or governmental subdivision has and exercises no rights, only responsibilities; and only regains his or her individual rights upon ceasing action as a part or agent of a government; whether temporarily, as at the end of a work day or when defending against crime; or permanently, as at termination of employment or agency.
(2) "Person" means a natural person regardless of age or other status and "people" is the plural of "person."
(3) "Law-abiding person" means a person who is not under lawful arrest, a prisoner in a prison or jail, or on probation for conviction for a violent felony; and is not under a valid court order individually disabling his or her right to keep and bear arms. Such a court order, to be valid, will address specific circumstances requiring and justifying the disarming of the person; and not use standardized language as a matter of course or convention to do so. One who, after conviction for a crime or offense, has completed his or her punishment or restitution and is no longer under the supervision of a court for that conviction is a "law-abiding person." No law-abiding person may be denied his or her natural, human, civil or constitutional rights.
(4) "Felony" or "violent felony" means the initiation of force, the infliction of bodily injury or death, or the reasonably construed immediate physical threat of the initiation of force, the infliction of bodily injury or death upon a natural person that is not justified: murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, slavery, rape, or robbery and similar crimes. "Felony" also includes major property crimes. Self-defense, or the defense of: another person, any property, the public peace and safety, or the Country; by any means from remonstration to the use of deadly force; by any person does not constitute a felony, violent felony or any other kind of crime or offense.
(5) "Keep" means to obtain, own, possess, store, hold title to, or defend the ownership of or title to, any property.
(6) "Bear" means to hold, wear on one's person, carry or transport, openly or concealed. Keeping or bearing arms does not constitute a crime, offense, threat, the initiation of force, or endangerment, of any kind.
(7) "Arms" means weapons, and implements of war of all kinds; also including, but not limited to: parts, accessories, accouterments, protective clothing or devices for people or property, ammunition, the components of ammunition and the material and tooling of arms. "Arms" also means any instrument or object that is designed or may be used to inflict damage or destruction to property, or injury or death to a person or animal; including, but not limited to, clubs, edged weapons, and firearms, of all kinds.
(8) "Infringe" means to prohibit, confiscate, seize, restrict, regulate, license, permit, tax, impose a fee or impost upon, require the keeping of records about, delay, or in any other way interfere with, monitor or punish the exercise of any right, liberty, action, ownership, privilege, or status.
(9) "Country" means a geographic region, such as America, the people who live there and their property. "Country" does not mean "nation" or "government".
(10) "Defend" and "defense" mean to make or keep safe from danger, attack, or harm; to protect, secure, guard, shield or safeguard.
SECTION 4. Section 5 is added to Article 18 of the California Constitution, to read:
SECTION 5. (a) The electors may amend, revise or in any manner change the Constitution by initiative.
(b) The electors may repeal any or all acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations; not including state constitutional provisions; by description, category, function or properties; such as those infringing certain rights. The electors do not need to name any particular acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations as long as they identify them by description, category, function or properties. The electors may repeal any or all acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations identified by entire code, chapter or other designation in addition to the identification methods listed above; or a combination of the above methods of identification. Acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations of any county, city, district or other subdivision or agency of the state, or any agency of any subdivision, may be repealed in the above manner by the electors of that jurisdiction. All courts, when in doubt or controversy about the repeal of any or all acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations will rule on the side of repeal. There shall be no limit as to the number of acts, statutes, ordinances, rules or regulations repealed in any initiative by the electors. The state legislature, any lesser legislative body or other governmental branch or department is prohibited from placing on any ballot a referendum or bill of repeal against any act of the people taken at any election.
(c)Any officer, employee or agent of the State of California and all of its subdivisions may refrain from enforcing any statute, ordinance, rule or regulation for reason of constitutional violation, illegality or repeal; that a reasonable person would know or reasonably suspect violates either the State or Federal Constitution or a constitutionally valid law, or has been repealed, or prohibited by the people. A government officer, employee or agent who so refrains shall be immune from criminal prosecution or civil action for so refraining. All courts, when in doubt or controversy about the constitutionality, illegality, repeal or prohibition of a particular act will rule on the side of unconstitutionality, illegality, repeal or prohibition.
SECTION 5. (a) The provisions of this measure are severable. If any provision of this measure or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. A word phrase or clause, whether or not separated from the rest of its sentence by punctuation, that upon removal leaves the sentence complete as to subject and predicate and possessed of sensible meaning shall be considered a provision for the purpose of severability.
(b) The People of California intend that this measure embraces a single subject. Therefor section 4 of this measure is intended to support section 3. If this measure is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to embrace more than one subject; the single subject that may be embraced shall be the Right to Keep and Bear Arms with its related provisions as addressed in section 3.