Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 22:00:12 -0400 From: David Miller <dm0@avana.net> Subject: 2A
The thought I had (actually, it was explained to me), about the BoR is that, you know that in contracts/law, if there is a conflict within a text/body of law, that which was legally written last overrides the earlier statement. (e.g. the fine print is always at *the bottom* of contracts). Think: a law is passed saying that something is legal, now another one is passed saying that it is illegal... Which law wins? The second one, obviously, so long as it was legally passed.
Contract law is civil law, the Constitution isn't civil law it is the charter defining how the government is supposed to work. If we accept this then no part of the Constitution is safe because it could be over-ridden this way, clearly not what the founding fathers intended in practice or principle.
Well, same with the BoR/Admendments. As AMENDMENTS, they override the main body of the Constitution, if there is a conflict. This is plain, simple, contractual law, and holds anywhere that people negotiate contracts.
Consider: The main body of the C says that the Senate can ratify treaties, such as the UN resolution to confiscate privately-owned small arms. Yet there is the 2A. Which wins? The 2A because it is the overriding law of the land, higher than the authority of the main body of the C to give the Senate that power when there is a conflict between parts of the law.
Conclusion: The UN should get your guns and ammo one bullet at a time.
This is lawyer bullshit, the 10th states very clearly, as well as the last sentence of the inter-state commerce clause, that the Constitution has to be taken in toto. The legislators and courts don't get to pick and choose. Furthermore, since the amendments dealing with prohabition were passed prior to the 16th they set a precedence that requires that subsequent amendemnts must specify what they are changing, the 16th doesn't do that. One could argue on that alone that the 16th as currently worded is invalid since it didn't meet prior precedence and by extension wasn't passed legaly. ____________________________________________________________________ The seeker is a finder. Ancient Persian Proverb The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------