Rockwall Citizens Speak Out in Support of Second Amendment
03-05-2013
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Denise Bell
Post Managing Editor
On Monday evening the citizens of Rockwall packed into Rockwall City Hall to request their Council show support of the Second Amendment by issuing an official Proclamation of support for a Constitutional Amendment that many Texans feel is being threatened by the federal government.
With citizens standing along the walls of the Council Chambers and additionally seated within the outer lobby, Rockwall Mayor, David Sweet, opened the discussion by stating, “Just as we have done in the past. We will listen to each and every person who wants to speak, that’s our policy. So I’m going to start on the far left side of the room and more to the right until everyone that wants to speak has been heard.”
Each person was given three minutes to speak and about half a dozen individuals chose to express the feelings. All the citizens who spoke were in favor of the Council’s endorsement of the Second Amendment, and many were extremely heartfelt in expressing their opinions.
An eloquent speaker, Rockwall resident Tina Milligan said, “I’m here tonight to support the resolution to reaffirm our second amendment. About five years ago I work up and I realized that our government, especially our federal government, is too big, it spends too much, it taxes too much and it regulates too much. Our founders never intended for government to be big and powerful, they intended for it to be small and limited.”
Milligan stated, “Our Constitution and its Amendments are there to protect citizens from a tyrannical government, and our Second Amendment, the right to bear arms is a part of the Constitution, a very important part of it. Today our federal government is doing just that. They are purposing laws that infringe upon our right to bear arms. My Constitutional rights feel threatened. My Second Amendment right is threatened. And when that’s true, my life begins to feel threatened. One of the best ways to fight back against this is at a local level.”
Milligan said “As a newly awaken voter I’m looking for elected officials with smarts and guts, with the smarts to know our rights and to know when they are being threatened, and with the guts to stand up and speak out in defense of them. I’m not looking for elected officials who fear the possibility of retaliation. I’m not looking for elected officials who remain silent when challenged by controversy.”
Turning and engaging the audience, in closing Milligan said, “Ronald Reagan said ‘If not us, who. If not now, when.’ If you came tonight to support the Second Amendment would you please stand. Ms. Smith, I thank you for proposing this resolution. Mayor, City Council, I ask you, and we ask you, as American, as Texans and as Rockwall citizens, to pass this resolution.”
After listening to the citizens, each member of the Rockwall Council expressed their opinions of the resolution.
Several Council members, and most notably, Mayor Pro-tem David White and Councilman Bennie Daniels, voiced that they felt the resolution was an affirmation of the Oath of Office they had already taken when elected to the Rockwall City Council.
However, after almost two hours of hearing from the citizens of Rockwall, and after much debate over the resolutions exact wording, Council Member Michelle Smith made motion to pass the Proclamation affirming the Rockwall City Council’s support of the Second Amendment, and Council Member Jim Pruitt immediately seconded her motion
The Resolution passed by a five to two vote, with Council Members, David White and Bennie Daniels voting against the affirmation.
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