To view this on the COS website, click here [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/2a-open-letter|2a-open-letter]] To download the pdf file from the COS website, click here [[https://conventionofstates.com/files/2a-open-letter/download|2A_OpenLetter_COSA042025.pdf]] ---- ====== 2A Open Letter ====== Attachment: 4690/2A_OpenLetter_COSA042025.pdf | \\ \\ \\ \\ {{:public:cb_mirror:files_29275_pdfto001.png?nolink&918x1188|}}\\ \\ O\\ \\ ur constitutional rights, \\ \\ especially our Second \\ \\ Amendment right to keep \\ \\ and bear arms, are in peril. With every \\ \\ tragic violent crime, liberals renew \\ \\ their demands for Congress and \\ \\ state legislatures to enact so-called \\ \\ “commonsense gun control” measures \\ \\ designed to chip away at our individual \\ \\ constitutional right to armed self-\\ \\ defense.\\ \\ Indeed, were it not for the \\ \\ determination and sheer political \\ \\ muscle of the National Rifle \\ \\ Association, Senator Feinstein’s \\ \\ 2013 bill to outlaw so-called “assault \\ \\ weapons” and other firearms might \\ \\ well have passed.\\ \\ But the most potent threat facing \\ \\ the Second Amendment comes \\ \\ not from Congress, but from the \\ \\ Supreme Court. Four justices of the \\ \\ Supreme Court do not believe that \\ \\ the Second Amendment guarantees \\ \\ an individual right to keep and bear \\ \\ arms. They believe that Congress and \\ \\ state legislatures are free not only to \\ \\ restrict firearms ownership by law-\\ \\ abiding Americans, but to ban firearms \\ \\ altogether. If the Liberals get one \\ \\ more vote on the Supreme Court, the \\ \\ Second Amendment will be no more.\\ \\ Constitutional law has been the \\ \\ dominant focus of my practice for \\ \\ most of my career as a lawyer, first in \\ \\ the Justice Department as President \\ \\ Reagan’s chief constitutional lawyer \\ \\ and the chairman of the President’s \\ \\ Working Group on Federalism, and \\ \\ since then as a constitutional litigator \\ \\ in private practice. For almost three \\ \\ decades, I have represented dozens \\ \\ of states and many other clients in \\ \\ constitutional cases, including many \\ \\ Second Amendment cases. In 2001, \\ \\ for example, I argued the first federal \\ \\ appellate case to hold that the Second \\ \\ Amendment guarantees every law-\\ \\ abiding responsible adult citizen an \\ \\ individual right to keep and bear \\ \\ arms. And in 2013 I testified before \\ \\ the Senate in opposition to Senator \\ \\ Feinstein’s anti-gun bill, arguing \\ \\ that it would violate the Second \\ \\ Amendment.\\ \\ So I am not accustomed to being \\ \\ accused of supporting a scheme that \\ \\ would “put our Second Amendment \\ \\ rights on the chopping block.” This \\ \\ charge is being hurled by a small gun \\ \\ rights group against me and many \\ \\ other constitutional conservatives \\ \\ because we have urged the states \\ \\ to use their sovereign power under \\ \\ Article V of the Constitution to \\ \\ call for a convention for proposing \\ \\ constitutional amendments designed \\ \\ to rein in the federal government’s \\ \\ power. \\ \\ The real threat to our constitutional  \\ \\ rights today is posed not by an Article \\ \\ V convention of the states, but by an \\ \\ out-of-control federal government, \\ \\ The 2nd Amendment and Convention of States\\ \\ Convention of States Action- Updated April 2025\\ \\ **THE SECOND AMENDMENT**\\ \\ and Convention of States\\ \\ //An Open Letter Concerning//\\ \\ //By Charles J. Cooper //\\ \\ — \\ \\ LONG TIME CONSTITUTIONAL LAW LITIGATOR FOR THE NRA\\ \\ \\ \\ {{:public:cb_mirror:files_29275_pdfto002.png?nolink&918x1188|}}\\ \\ exercising powers that it does not \\ \\ have and abusing powers that it does. \\ \\ The federal government’s unrelenting \\ \\ encroachment upon the sovereign \\ \\ rights of the states and the individual \\ \\ rights of citizens, and the Supreme \\ \\ Court’s failure to prevent it, have \\ \\ led me to join the Legal Board of \\ \\ Reference for the Convention of \\ \\ States Project. \\ \\ [Convention of States] mission is to \\ \\ urge 34 state legislatures to call for \\ \\ an Article V convention limited to \\ \\ proposing constitutional amendments \\ \\ that “impose fiscal restraints on the \\ \\ federal government, limit its power \\ \\ and jurisdiction, and impose term \\ \\ limits on its officials and members of \\ \\ Congress.” \\ \\ I am joined in this effort by many \\ \\ well-known constitutional \\ \\ c o n s e r v a t i v e s , \\ \\ including Mark \\ \\ Levin, Professor \\ \\ Randy Barnett, \\ \\ Professor Robert \\ \\ George, Michael Farris, \\ \\ Mark Meckler, Professor \\ \\ Robert Natelson, Andrew \\ \\ McCarthy, Professor John Eastman, \\ \\ Ambassador Boyden Gray, and \\ \\ Professor Nelson Lund. All of us have \\ \\ carefully studied the original meaning \\ \\ of Article V, and not one of us would \\ \\ support an Article V convention if we \\ \\ believed it would pose a significant \\ \\ threat to our Second Amendment \\ \\ rights or any of our constitutional \\ \\ freedoms. To the contrary, our \\ \\ mission is to reclaim our democratic \\ \\ and individual freedoms from an \\ \\ overreaching federal government.\\ \\ The Framers of our Constitution \\ \\ carefully limited the federal \\ \\ government’s powers by specifically \\ \\ enumerating those powers in \\ \\ Article I, and the states promptly \\ \\ ensured that the Constitution would \\ \\ expressly protect the “right of the \\ \\ people to keep and bear arms” by \\ \\ adopting the Second Amendment.\\ \\   But the Framers \\ \\ u n d e r s t o o d \\ \\ human nature, \\ \\ and they \\ \\ could foresee \\ \\ a day when \\ \\ the \\ \\ federal    \\ \\ g o v e r n m e n t \\ \\ would yield to the \\ \\ “encroaching spirit of \\ \\ power,” as James Madison \\ \\ put in the Federalist Papers, \\ \\ and would invade the sovereign \\ \\ domain of the states and infringe the \\ \\ rights of the citizens. The Framers \\ \\ also knew that the states would be \\ \\ powerless to remedy the federal \\ \\ government’s encroachments if the \\ \\ process of amending the Constitution \\ \\ could be initiated only by Congress; \\ \\ as Alexander Hamilton noted in \\ \\ the Federalist Papers, “the national \\ \\ government will always be disinclined \\ \\ to yield up any portion of the authority” \\ \\ it claims. So the Framers wisely \\ \\ equipped the states with the means of \\ \\ reclaiming their sovereign powers and \\ \\ protecting the rights of their citizens, \\ \\ even in the face of congressional \\ \\ opposition. Article V vests the states \\ \\ with unilateral power to convene for \\ \\ the purpose of proposing constitutional \\ \\ amendments and to control the \\ \\ amending process from beginning \\ \\ to end on all substantive matters.\\ \\ The day foreseen by the Framers – the \\ \\ day when the federal government far \\ \\ exceeded the limits of its enumerated \\ \\ powers – arrived many years ago. The \\ \\ Framers took care in Article V to equip \\ \\ the people, acting through their state \\ \\ legislatures, with the power to put a \\ \\ stop to it. It is high time they used it.\\ \\ //**“The real threat to our constitutional rights today is posed not by **//\\ \\ //**an Article V convention of the states, but by an out-of-control **//\\ \\ //**federal government, exercising powers that it does not have and **//\\ \\ //**abusing powers that it does.”**//\\ \\ //Support the only solution that is as big as the problem.//\\ \\ www.conventionofstates.com         info@conventionofstates.com\\ \\ **Sign the petition at conventionofstates.com**| ---- | __Page Metadata__ || |Login Required to view? |No | |Created: |2025-04-21 18:44 GMT| |Updated: |2025-04-21 18:44 GMT| |Published: |2025-04-21 18:44 GMT| |Converted: |2025-11-11 12:35 GMT| |Change Author: |Eric Greenwood | |Credit Author: | |