Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Oath of Office in the State of New Mexico

Compiled by Norman Frank, Jeff Rau, Anna Pendland and Angel Shamaya

Preamble
Article 2 - Bill of Rights - Section 4 - Inherent Rights
Section 6 - Right to Bear Arms
Section 9 - Military Power Subordinate: Quarting of Soldiers
Article XVIII - Militia - Section 1 - Composition, Name and Commander in Chief of Militia
Section 2 - Organizations, Discipline and Equipment of Militia
Article XX - Section 1 - Oath of Officer
Oaths to Constitution and for Ethical Conduct
New Mexico Constitution
United States Right to Keep And Bear Arms
U.S. Constitution Comes Before Statutes, Edicts, Ordinances, Rules or Regulations
The Civil Rights Act (every violator of rights is liable)
Public Law 96-303, Code of Ethics for Government Service
U.S. State Constitutions

Preamble

We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty, in order to secure the advantages of a state government, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

Article 2 - Bill of Rights - Section 4 - Inherent Rights

All persons are born equally free, and have certain natural, inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and obtaining safety and happiness.

Section 6 - Right to Bear Arms

No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms. (As amended November 2, 1971 and November 2, 1986.)

Section 9 - Military Power Subordinate: Quarting of Soldiers

The military shall always be in strict subordination to the civil power; no soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war except in the manner prescribed by law.

Article XVIII - Militia - Section 1 - Composition, Name and Commander in Chief of Militia

The militia of this state shall consist of all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, except such as are exempt by laws of the United States or of this state. The organized militia shall be called the "national guard of New Mexico," of which the governor shall be the commander in chief.

Section 2 - Organizations, Discipline and Equipment of Militia

The legislature shall provide for the organization, discipline and equipment of the militia, which shall conform as nearly as practicable to the organization, discipline and equipment of the regular army of the United States, and shall provide for the maintenance thereof.

Article XX - Section 1 - Oath of Officer

Every person elected or appointed to any office shall, before entering upon his duties, take and subscribe to an oath or affirmation that he will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution and laws of this state, and that he will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of his office to the best of his ability.

Oaths to Constitution and for Ethical Conduct

From State of New Mexico, January 21, 1997, record of the Senate, Forty-Third Legislature, First Session

"The President of the Senate administered the oath of office to the members of the Senate as follows:

"I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States...and the Constitution and Laws of the State of New Mexico...that I will true faith and allegiance bear to the same...and defend them against all enemies whatsoever...and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of my office...as a member of the Senate...according to the best of my ability, so help me God."

Oath of Ethical Conduct that is signed by the Senators of the Forty-Third Legislature, Second Session, January 20, 1998

"I, _________________, duly elected member of the New Mexico State Senate from District ___ do hereby recognize the irrefutable principle that a public office is a public trust and do solemnly swear that: 1. I shall faithfully support the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Mexico. 2. I shall ethically and with integrity discharge the high responsibilities placed upon me by the Constitution of the State of New Mexico and the voters of my district. 3. I shall abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the Senate Rules pertaining to ethical conduct. 4. I shall not use my office for personal gain and shall scrupulously avoid any act of impropriety or any act which gives the appearance of impropriety.

______________________________ ______________

Senator District

Oath of Ethical Conduct that is signed by the Representatives of the Forty-Second Legislature, January 18, 1995

"I, _________________, duly elected member of the New Mexico State House of Representatives from District ______ do hereby recognize the irrefutable principle that a public office is a public trust and do solemnly swear that: 1. I shall faithfully support the United States Constitution and the Constitution of the State of New Mexico. 2. I shall ethically and with integrity discharge the high responsibilities placed upon me by the Constitution of the State of New Mexico and the voters of my district. 3. I shall abide by the spirit as well as the letter of the House Rules pertaining to ethical conduct. 4. I shall not use my office for personal gain and shall scrupulously avoid any act of impropriety or any act which gives the appearance of impropriety.

Signed and Sealed at The Capitol, in the City of Santa Fe.

January 18, 1995

______________________________ ______________

Representative District

SOURCE: Susan Lilley, New Mexico Legislative Council Service, State Capital, Room 411, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501.

United States Right to Keep and Bear Arms

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
BILL OF RIGHTS

AMENDMENT II.

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.

Source: Bill of Rights, Second Amendment (ratified 1791, and still the Law of the Land)
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/billrights/billrights.html

U.S. Constitution Comes Before Statutes, Edicts, Ordinances, Rules or Regulations

UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE VI.

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Source: Constitution of the United States of America
http://www.nara.gov/exhall/charters/constitution/constitution.html

EXPLANATION FROM LAW.CORNELL.EDU:

This means that state governments and officials cannot take actions or pass laws that interfere with the Constitution, laws passed by Congress, or treaties. The Constitution was interpreted, in 1819, as giving the Supreme Court the power to invalidate any state actions that interfere with the Constitution and the laws and treaties passed pursuant to it. That power is not itself explicitly set out in the Constitution but was declared to exist by the Supreme Court in the decision of McCulloch v. Maryland.

Civil Rights Act

UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 42. THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 21. CIVIL RIGHTS
SUBCHAPTER I. GENERALLY
Section 1983. Civil action for deprivation of rights

Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer's judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.

(R.S. Sec. 1979; Pub. L. 96-170, Sec. 1, Dec. 29, 1979, 93 Stat. 1284; Pub. L. 104-317, title III, Sec. 309(c), Oct. 19, 1996, 110 Stat. 3853.)

Source: For date law was enacted, history of law, amendments (slight, and very much intact in spirit), go here: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+42USC1983

PUBLIC LAW 96-303

TITLE 5. GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
PART III. EMPLOYEES
Subpart F. Labor-Management and Employee Relations
CHAPTER 73. SUITABILITY, SECURITY, AND CONDUCT
SUBCHAPTER I. REGULATION OF CONDUCT
Section 7301. Presidential regulations

CODE OF ETHICS FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICE (signed into law on July 3, 1980)

ANY PERSON IN GOVERNMENT SERVICE SHOULD:

I. Put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or Government department.

II. Uphold the Constitution, laws, and regulations of the United States and of all governments therein and never be a party to their evasion.

III. Give a full day's labor for a full day's pay; giving earnest effort and best thought to the performance of duties.

IV. Seek to find and employ more efficient and economical ways of getting tasks accomplished.

V. Never discriminate unfairly by the dispensing of special favors or

VI. Make no private promises of any kind binding upon the duties of office, since a Government employee has no private word which can be binding on public duty.

VII. Engage in no business with the Government, either directly or indirectly, which is inconsistent with the conscientious performance of governmental duties.

VIII. Never use any information gained confidentially in the performance of government duties as a means for making private profit.

IX. Expose corruption wherever discovered.

X. Uphold these principles, ever conscious that public office is a public trust.

DECA Poster 80-3, Feb 94

When this law was passed, it included a requirement for posting the above in government facilities. That requirement was later repealed. (Source 1, Source 2) But the law itself is still very much a LAW.

U.S. State Constitutions

Alabama	Hawaii	Massachusetts	New Mexico	South Dakota
Alaska	Idaho	Michigan	New York	Tennessee
Arizona	Illinois	Minnesota	North Carolina	Texas
Arkansas	Indiana	Mississippi	North Dakota	Utah
California	Iowa	Missouri	Ohio	Vermont
Colorado	Kansas	Montana	Oklahoma	Virginia
Connecticut	Kentucky	Nebraska	Oregon	Washington
Delaware	Louisiana	Nevada	Pennsylvania	West Virginia
Florida	Maine	New Hampshire	Rhode Island	Wisconsin
Georgia	Maryland	New Jersey	South Carolina	Wyoming

State Constitutions on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms