Proposed 2nd Amendment Resolution Is An Overreach of Board’s Authority, Shasta County Legal Counsel Warns

2.18.23 5:27 pm: We have updated the article to clarify what the California Constitution says about separation of powers.

A proposed 2nd Amendment resolution will be discussed by Shasta County’s Board of Supervisors this Tuesday, February 21.

The document, which was drafted by the California Rifle and Pistol Association and put on the agenda by Supervisor Jones attempts to give power to County officials and employees to decide for themselves whether state and federal laws meet constitutional requirements.

County staff have proposed significant edits to the proposed resolution to ensure it does not exceed the Board of Supervisors’ legal authority under the California Constitution.

California’s Constitution separates power among three branches of government including the legislative branch, which makes laws, the executive branch, which enforces them, and the judicial branch, which interprets them.

Shasta County’s legal counsel notes a 2004 California Supreme Court ruling that confirmed that public officials may not decide for themselves whether or not laws are constitutional.

Instead, the Court said, public officials must “faithfully uphold the Constitution by complying with legal mandates and leaving it up to the courts to decide whether they’re valid . . . A public official does not honor his or her oath to defend the Constitution by taking action in contravention of the restrictions of his or her office and justifying such action by reference to his or her personal constitutional views.”

The resolution also appears to limit freedoms granted to public officials under the California Constitution, by requiring that public officials review and sign the 2nd Amendment Resolution annually. The State Constitution indicates that no “oaths, declarations or tests of public office beyond the Constitution itself” may be required of those serving in public office.

Representatives of the California Rifle and Pistol Association were given the opportunity to submit revisions or changes to the resolution in response to these legal concerns, the County’s staff report says, but no comments were offered.

The Board will take up the proposed Resolution on Tuesday, February 21, at 5 pm. You can contact the Board of Supervisors here. 

Do you have a correction to this story? You can submit it here. Do you have information to share? Email us: editor@shastascout.org