Show Arguments against Rebuttal to The proposed Utah constitutional amendment as to firearms should not be approved by the voters The present constitutional provision is quite wellonsidered It recognizes a right to bear anus and at the same time empowers the legislature to regulate the subject Nothing could be more evident than that organized society should be competent to Arguments protect the public safety against the unregulated availability of deadly weatons As the Supreme Court of the United States has made quite clear the provisions of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States concerning a right to bear anns relate to the availability of arms for citizen militia It would be no less than foolhardy to deny the representatives of the people adequate authority to protect the cit izenry generally against the misuse of deadly weapons Certainly it should be clear that all of us in organized society have vital dependence upon our elected representatives to adopt reasonable measures to assure the public safety Vote "AGAINST” Proposition 5 as an unnecessary and in the Utah constitution! unwise change Mr Jefferson B Fordham Professor of Law College of Law Distinguished University of Utah Salt Lake City Utah 84112 against Proposition 5 A’o Section 6 of the Utah Constitution Currently Article not only grants a right but allows the legislature to restrict the right This leaves the provision open to a great deal of interpretation Subsequently in one recent Utah Supreme Court case dealing with this issue the five justices wrote three different opinions as to what rights the citizens of Utah have and the extent those rights can be regulated One of those opinions state that regulation to the point of complete prohibition is a proper exercise of legislative authority under Utah's current constitutional provision! Therefore Proposition 5 seeks to change the last clause of the current language from a grant of legislative authority to regulate the right to a recognition of the legislative power to define the lawful use of arms It's a change that will not compromise the ability of the legislature to draft laws necessary to protect the populace from firearms misuse The amendment also acknowledges the right belongs to the individuals in society rather than the people as a whole and adds the right of keeping arms to the already recognized right to bear arms In addition Proposition 5 clarifies the reasons for keeping and bearing arms to Include not only security and defense but other lawful purposes such as hunting and target shooting Proposition 5 is needed to provide this and future generations of Utah citizens with a strong positive guarantee of their individual right to keep and bear anns VOTE "FOR" Proposition 5! Senator Jack 1177 M East Bangerter North 500 Bountiful Utah 84010 Representative 2440 Donna M Dahl East 6200 South |