This week, CPAC sent a letter to the Ohio House of Representatives in support of HB 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. The bill successfully passed out of the House Government Oversight Committee on Wednesday, and now awaits action on the House floor. You can read an excerpt from the letter below:
Throughout our entire history, CPAC has fought to return America’s government to that which our Founders envisioned. This means a Federalist government characterized by state governments acting as a check on federal power. When those in Washington, DC threaten to trample the rights of the American people, it is not just the right, but the duty of state governments to act as a barrier.
Nowhere is this power sharing agreement more clearly laid out than in Federalist No. 45, written by James Madison:
The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined . . . The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects, which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people. . .
It is within this context that we are writing. There is, perhaps, no right that faces a greater threat than Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. It seems that every day, woke progressives of the radical left are searching for new ways to take away the fundamental right of self-defense.
Accordingly, CPAC supports HB 51, the Second Amendment Preservation Act. Sponsored by Representatives Loychik (CPAC Lifetime 83%) and Schmidt (CPAC Lifetime 90%), this bill would prevent state law enforcement agencies from enforcing any federal gun laws that infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of Ohioans.
Not only would this bill serve to ensure that the people of Ohio maintain their right to keep and bear arms, but it also sets an important precedent that the people of the Buckeye state will not allow the federal government to overextend its reach.
The Tenth Amendment provides that those powers not specifically given to the federal government are to be retained by the states. The Ohio legislature now has the opportunity to put the Tenth Amendment into practice by prohibiting state tax dollars from being used to enforce the radical agenda of Biden Administration – or any other Administration seeking to undermine our Constitutional rights.
Our sister organization, CPAC Foundation’s ratings team has scored similar bills positively in Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Dakota, and Missouri. As such, we will recommend that they positively score a “yes” vote on HB 51 for our 2023 annual ratings of Ohio lawmakers. We urge Ohio to join these other states in advancing the liberty interests of Americans across the nation.
