With so much discussion about the right to bear arms, let’s compare the right granted under the Second Amendment to the US Constitution with the Washington State Constitution:
Second Amendment to the US Constitution:
“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
Washington State Constitution, Article I, Section 24:
“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
It would appear to me that Article I, section 24 of the Washington Constitution plainly and clearly guarantees an individual right to bear arms in Washington State. The US Constitution sets the floor and States may not go below the floor. They may, as Washington has, move up to the mezzanine.
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