New Jersey Tenth Amendment Center
To the Sheriffs of New Jersey,
As our elected Sheriffs; the chief law enforcement officers and highest constitutional executive authority of the several counties of New Jersey, you have taken an oath to protect and defend the US Constitution.
The New Jersey State Constitution declares: “All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.”… with an understanding of the natural right of self defense.
Again and again, law abiding citizens are faced with unlawful actions by the federal
government in response to tragic events. The central government continues to destroy
the unalienable rights codified in the US Constitution. This must not stand.
Regarding the 2nd Amendment and the federal government, we ask you to consider the following facts:
The 2nd Amendment does not confer, grant, or bestow the right of the people to keep and bear arms. As a natural right, preexisting the constitution, the 2nd Amendment was established as one of many restraints on the federal government.
The US Constitution does not grant the federal supreme court the power of final arbiter or authority on whether a federal act is constitutional, nor does the notion of judicial review grant such power. The federal supreme court has made extremely wrongful and unconstitutional decisions in the past and recently as well.
The States did not create a central government and grant it the authority to decide for itself the limits of its own powers, nor did the People give up their right to judge the constitutionality of federal acts.
As Thomas Jefferson explained: “…the several States composing the United States of
America, are not united on the principles of unlimited
submission to their General Government; but that by compact under the style and
title of a Constitution For the United States and of amendments thereto, they
constituted a General Government for special purposes, delegated to that Government
certain definite powers, reserving each State to itself, the residuary mass of right
to their own self Government; and that whensoever the General Government assumes
undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force…
…That the Government created by this compact was not made the exclusive or final
judge of the extent of the powers delegated to itself; since that would have made
its discretion, and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that as in
all other cases of compact among parties having no common Judge, each party has an
equal right to judge for itself, as well as of infractions as of the mode and
measure of redress.”
No doubt, you are aware of the many Sheriffs across the nation who are publicly taking a stand against the unconstitutional acts by the federal government. We would like to know if you intend to uphold the US Constitution and protect our 2nd Amendment rights from violation by all unconstitutional federal acts, regulations, and executive orders. We would expect you to refuse to enforce any federal action that is repugnant to the US Constitution.
A statement from the Sheriffs Association of New Jersey would be most appreciated, or the Sheriffs might individually offer their position to the citizens of their counties. Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
New Jersey Tenth Amendment Center
Brenda Poland [send her email] is the state chapter coordinator for the New Jersey Tenth Amendment Center.
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Please, if anyone has received any notice / reply from their local Sheriff, about where they stand with the Constitution and the Second Amendment, post it here. So far, there has been no reply to our open letter.