CAMPAIGN 2006: Project Gondwana

Gondwana is the name of an ancient continent that once included present-day Africa, Australia, South America, Antarctica, and India.  It endured for an estimated 500 million years until it collided with the rest of Earth's continental masses to form the supercontinent Pangaea during the Permian Era.

Okay, enough ancient history.  The effect of Gondwana and its daughter continents on the development of modern Earth is too lengthy to detail here.  The name Gondwana was chosen, however, as a representation of how some anti-RKBA Democrats now see themselves as the be-all and end-all of the Democratic Party.  This project is designed to fire a shot across the bow of the gun-control establishment and put candidates for 2006 and 2008 on notice by declaring to the Democratic world at large, "We're gun-rights advocates, and we're Democrats, too."

The bulk of the work for Project Gondwana will take place during the Democratic Primary in your state, and will probably take about 2-3 hours depending on the size of your precinct.  The key to any success that Project Gondwana has is if you are willing to participate in your local precinct convention as a delegate.  It is only at a precinct convention that rank-and-file Democrats, as delegates, can introduce new resolutions to hopefully be adopted by the state party as part of the state platform. It may not seem like much, but don't be fooled - if successful, Project Gondwana may very well change Democratic policy on gun control starting at the ground level and reaching all the way up into the national convention and Capitol Hill.

The specific objective of Project Gondwana is to pressure state Democratic Party platforms to distance themselves from the provision in the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that imposed a ban on semi-automatic firearms that have been collectively labelled with the term "assault weapons."  Although the ban has been allowed to sunset in 2004, some Democratic legislators in Congress are threatening to bring it back, possibly stronger than ever - as in the case of Illinois State Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago), whose House Bill 2414 threatens to outlaw almost all possession of semi-automatic firearms in the state.  It is of vital importance that Amendment II Democrats get in on the ground floor during the 2006 primaries to blunt attempts to revive the ban either on the state level or the Federal level.

The Project Gondwana Resolution

On your state's primary day, after the polls close, at precinct conventions around your state, all pro-RKBA Democratic activists are encouraged to submit the following resolution at their respective conventions:

WHEREAS, in the case of US vs. Emerson, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, on October 16, 2001, that "to give the Second Amendment's preamble its full and proper due there is no need to torture the meaning of its substantive guarantee into the collective rights or sophisticated collective rights model which is so plainly inconsistent with the substantive guarantee’s text, its placement within the bill of rights and the wording of the other articles thereof and of the original Constitution as a whole," thus affirming that the "well-regulated Militia" enumerated in the Second Amendment does not restrict private ownership of firearms to collective state militias such as the National Guard, and
WHEREAS, in the same case of US vs. Emerson, the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals further affirmed that "the right of individual Americans to keep, carry, and acquaint themselves with firearms does indeed promote a well-regulated militia by fostering the development of a pool of firearms-familiar citizens that could be called upon to serve in the militia," and that "All of the evidence indicates that the Second Amendment, like other parts of the Bill of Rights, applies to and protects individual Americans," and
WHEREAS, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 contained provisions banning sales of selected semi-automatic firearms to civilians based almost solely on the cosmetic and subjective features of such firearms, and
WHEREAS, support by the the Democratic Party of the United States of America (DPUSA) for the firearms ban contained in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 has eroded support for Democratic candidates across America and exacerbated confusion in the general public concerning the stance of Democrats on gun control legislation, and
WHEREAS, it has not been conclusively demonstrated that the provisions for the firearms ban in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 have had any measurable success in reducing violent crime rates within the United States of America since passage of the Act, and
WHEREAS, the firearms ban provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 have been allowed to expire on September 13, 2004,
NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Delegates of Democratic Precinct #______ of ________ County in the State of _______, with a view towards promoting more intelligent and effective gun-safety legislation and initiatives and consolidating the DPUSA’s own national position on Constitutional rights and public safety, do hereby:
* Reaffirm our commitment to promoting safer and more responsible ownership of firearms by American citizens;
* Reaffirm our commitment to protection and defense of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution, including the Second Amendment;
* Reject proposals within the DPUSA for institution or reauthorization of a federal ban on the sale, transfer, and/or possession of semi-automatic firearms; and
* Call upon the Democratic Party of our state to include in the state party platform a statement rejecting institution and/or reauthorization of a state and/or federal ban on the sale, transfer, and/or possession of semi-automatic firearms.

Please share this resolution with any pro-RKBA Democratic activists you know and encourage them to submit it at their upcoming precinct conventions.  Make no mistake - this resolution, once it is introduced, will be defeated in many Democratic precinct conventions throughout your state.  All it takes is for one precinct to adopt the resolution for it to be considered at the county/senatorial level.  All it takes is for one district to adopt the resolution for the entire state to consider it at the party convention.

And after the state convention - who knows?