(January 1) Star Moffatt, who is vying to replace Steve Knight as 21st District State Senator, this week enunciated her commitment to hold the line against any erosion of Second Amendment rights by the California Legislature.
In recent years, sportsmen and advocates for the preservation of Constitutional protections have expressed alarm over efforts within several state legislatures, including both the state senate and assembly in California, to enact gun control laws that nibble at the corners of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and presage future efforts to compromise citizens’ rights to bear arms.
“I am pro-Second Amendment,” Moffatt said in declaring her belief that citizens’ ability to arm themselves should be held sacrosanct. .
“Proven statistics are now showing that gun ownership is actually helping to protect citizens from crime, because most sheriff and police departments are underfunded, overworked and underpaid. Due to underfunding, most sheriff and police departments can only be so many places at one time.”
Moffatt said she would, if elected, attempt to persuade her colleagues to enact legislation that would keep the Second Amendment from being contradicted by state law.
“Should I have the blessings of our citizens to be elected as your next state senator, I will introduce Second Amendment legislation to mirror the Federal Second Amendment so there can be no mistake about the direction and intent of any gun safety regulation the legislature takes up in the future.”
Moffatt, who spent six years in the United States Army, said she is pro-Second Amendment because “gun ownership is a fundamental right enshrined in the United States Constitution, which many have forgotten. Furthermore, the ability of the citizens to arm themselves is for protection. We as Americans need to be self-sufficient and not rely on the government for self defense. We need to defend ourselves, our homes, our businesses, our families and those weaker than ourselves.”
Moffatt also said lawmakers need to recognize the values the United States was founded on remain positive attributes “We should reinforce those values,” Moffatt said. “The Second Amendment was one of those values, the need and responsibility to carry and maintain weapons. Within the Constitution, the Second Amendment created a right to bear arms, to protect ourselves from enemies, both foreign and domestic. You and I as everyday citizens have to uphold multiple laws on a daily basis. Our state government as a whole is also required to abide by all state and federal laws, and in this particular case, uphold the federal law applicable to the Second Amendment. It is an appalling fact that the state government is not upholding the Second Amendment and is doing everything within its powers to corrupt and destroy our Constitutional Rights to bear arms.”
Moffatt said she supports the issuance of concealed carry weapons permits as a fall back solution. She noted the wording in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which struck down California’s concealed weapons rules, saying they “violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms.” Said Moffatt, “This ruling now helps us to recognize that we have a Constitutional Right to protect ourselves with guns.”
Characterizing herself as a conservative Democrat, Moffatt said she intended to build on the basis of her 2012 run for the same state senate position, in which she garnered just under 43 percent of the vote. Five others, Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, Hesperia Mayor Eric Schmidt, Apple Valley-based entrepreneur Sal Chavez and former state senator Sharon Runner, all of whom are Republicans, are contemplating their own candidacies to replace Knight, who was elected to Congress in November. Knight’s Congressional victory left the 21st District, straddles San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties and covers portions of the Victor, Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, vacant. Nearly two years remain on Knight’s term.