The Committee Proposal is Ambiguous and Self– Contradictory. It is difficult to determine the meaning and effect of the Committee proposal. The proposal declares an undefined individual right to keep and bear arms. The right is, however, completely subject to the vague concept of the “police powers” of the State. What kinds of laws would be prohibited by the Committee proposal? The majority report states that the proposed constitutional provision would not prohibit certain types of firearms laws which have been upheld by the courts, such as laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons, gun registration laws and gun owner licensing laws. The majority is silent, however, as to what new limits, if any, the Committee proposal would place on the power of the legislature to enact other types of gun control laws, laws which are not now on the books and have not been passed on by the courts, but which may be needed in the years to come to deal with the “extraordinary threat to the safety and good order of society” posed by arms. Read on… →