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“A group of gun rights advocates roared with approval as Alan Gura descended the stairs of the Supreme Court on the morning of June 26, having just learned of the high court’s decision in the landmark Second Amendment case, District of Columbia v. Heller. ‘Goodbye, gun ban!’ they chanted. Gura, whom history will remember as the lawyer who successfully argued that Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms, smiled broadly. Goodbye, gun ban. … He hadn’t even read the Heller opinion in its entirety on Thursday, when Gura and … David Sigale, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, seeking to strike down Chicago’s gun ban. The Second Amendment Foundation is bankrolling the litigation.” (07/02/08) Link: http://www.law.com/jsp/scm/PubArticleSCM.jsp?id=1202422704077 | |
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“Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport dueled with gun rights advocates Tuesday over whether a new state law allows visitors to carry firearms. City officials in charge of the airport declared it a ‘gun-free zone’ when a law allowing people to carry guns on public transit and other places took effect Tuesday.” (07/01/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3l4lsl | |
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“Nearly 13 hours after her 16-year-old son was shot in a drive-by, Denise Dixon stood beside the Rev. Jesse Jackson, pleading for gun regulations in the wake of the controversial Supreme Court decision that could threaten Chicago’s ban on handguns. Dixon said the community and lawmakers must fight for it. … Jackson called the Supreme Court’s ruling of the District of Columbia’s handgun ban as unconstitutional a ‘reckless interpretation of the Second Amendment’ — and one that Chicago doesn’t have to accept. ‘We must fight for the legal restrictions on where these gun shops can be,’ Jackson said. ‘We will fight the easy access to guns and gun flow. We can picket and boycott stores that can endanger us.’” [editor’s note: Ah yes, the existing gun ban is working SO well - MLS] (06/28/08) Link: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1029593,CST-NWS-PUSH28.article | |
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“Hillsborough County deputies had issued an alert for Christopher Collins in connection with a robbery and violation of probation. Plant City police say he had also stolen a handgun and bulletproof vests from the homes of deputies. Police used reverse 911 calls to warn residents that an armed suspect was loose in the area, and based on tips, investigators were able to narrow their search. It was around 8 a.m. when Collins was spotted running through back yards, and that’s when he allegedly broke into a home on Dawnmeadow Court, apparently trying to hide. The homeowner, upon his return, did not welcome the intruder. ‘He came home to check on his daughter when he discovered the window broken out of his house. So he armed himself with his handgun and checked the house, where he was confronted,’ explained Sgt. Dale Peterson of the Plant City Police Department. The homeowner — whose name is not being released — shot Collins in the foot.” (07/01/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6fnwmx | |
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“A 21-year-old man who police said broke into a Northwest Side residence late Monday night was critically wounded after the homeowner shot him once in the chest. … officers responded about 9:30 p.m. to the Retreat at Ingram Hills subdivision in the 6500 block of Arrid Pass after receiving two emergency calls, one for a break-in and the other for a shooting. A woman who lives at the residence was home alone with her 18-month-old baby when she heard noises, Berrigan said. The woman looked through the front door peephole and saw a man trying to break in, Berrigan said. A few minutes later, after calling authorities, the woman heard sounds at the garage door, which was closed. She then called her husband, who arrived within minutes with a 9 mm pistol, Berrigan said. The husband entered through a back door, which remained ajar, and the would-be intruder followed. The two had a brief altercation in the kitchen, and the homeowner told him to leave. But instead, the intruder tried to ‘buck up against’ the homeowner, Berrigan said, at which point he was shot in the chest.” (07/01/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5bjgno | |
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“Yesterday’s United States Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller confirmed what the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has been saying all along: the Second Amendment does indeed protect a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms. But because Washington, D.C. is a federal enclave, the Heller ruling applies to the federal government only.” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=1350 | |
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“The D.C. Council is looking at instituting criminal and mental background checks, waiting periods and other measures in response to the historic Supreme Court decision striking down the city’s 32-year ban on handguns. The public will be able to weigh in at a roundtable Wednesday on how the city should respond to Thursday’s ruling. The decision marked the first time the Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to own a gun.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6k7vcg | |
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“Police say a man claiming to be protecting his property shot two people Thursday night in northeast Portland. The incident began about 10:30 p.m. when the police said a homeowner claimed he heard someone trying to break into his RV, which was parked at his home near the 1400 block of Northeast Marine Drive. When police arrived they said the homeowner had apparently shot the suspected prowlers with a shotgun, hitting a man in the hand. The suspect was not seriously hurt but had some shotgun pellets lodged in his hand. He was transported to the hospital. A woman with the man was treated at the hospital but the nature of her wounds was not specified. Both were treated, released and arrested. … The man who shot them was not charged.” (06/27/08) Link: http://www.katu.com/news/22049604.html | |
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“Police say an attempted robbery at pizza parlor ended when a store employee shot and killed the alleged thief. Workers at Dominick’s Pizza and Pasta in the Timber Lake shopping center on Holland Road tell 13News a masked man came in through a back entrance, brandishing a gun and demanding cash. Police say the shooting happened around 10pm Saturday. According to employees, a worker opened the safe, taking a loaded revolver out instead of money. The worker reportedly returned to where the alleged thief was and opened fire. Police say workers called 9-1-1 at 10:08.By the time officers arrived the masked man was already dead.” (06/29/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6k828g | |
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“General Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon said Friday that crime in Chattanooga ‘has become so rampant that it is no longer possible for the police department to protect our citizens.’ He told a woman who had been pulled from her car and beaten in the head that she or her mother needed to ‘purchase a weapon, obtain a gun permit and learn to protect yourself.’ The woman moved back in with her mother after the May 4 incident on E. 17th Street. Judge Moon said, ‘The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that all citizens have a right to purchase a weapon to defend themselves, their families and their homes — unless there is some disqualification that prevents them from owning a weapon.’” (06/27/08) Link: http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_130537.asp | |
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Big news this week …. SCOTUS rules on Heller, deciding gun rights are an individual right protected by the Constitution (with some restrictions) and nixes DC’s victim disarmament scheme … as soon as Heller was in, CCRKBA, NRA Civil Rights Coalition sues San Francisco over Public Housing gun ban and SAF challenges Chicago’s handgun ban. Commentaries on the Heller decision from Dave Kopel, Dave Workman, Daniel White (Ohioans for Concealed Carry), JPFO, NRA, Robert VerBruggen, Larken Rose, Don B. Kates, Jr., JD Tucille, David Codrea and more! Self defense stories from Indiana, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Til next week Mary Lou Link: http://rationalreview.com/2am | |
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“The Chicago Tribune’s call for repeal of the Second Amendment following the historic Heller Decision is an ‘unconscionable attack on the entire Bill of Rights and the freedoms it protects,’ the Second Amendment Foundation said today. In an editorial published on the day after the Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 ruling, the newspaper called the Second Amendment an ‘anachronism’ that should be repealed. … ‘The Chicago Tribune’s editors have demonstrated an appalling short-sightedness,’ said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. ‘If they are so willing to abandon one civil right for an entire class of American citizens, what’s next? Perhaps they would strip some citizens of their First Amendment rights to free speech or religion.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/53gvmf | |
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“Yesterday’s United States Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia vs. Heller confirmed what the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has been saying all along: the Second Amendment does indeed protect a fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms. But because Washington, D.C. is a federal enclave, the Heller ruling applies to the federal government only.Today, using the Heller decision as the basis for the challenge, the Citizens Committee, in partnership with the National Rifle Association (NRA), filed a civil rights lawsuit to confirm that the Second Amendment restricts state and local governments from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms as well.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/47b2lf | |
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“Following Thursday’s 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms, and that a municipal gun ban violates that right, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the City of Chicago’s long-standing handgun ban. The case is McDonald v. City of Chicago.” (06/28/08) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=1348 | |
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“Silent on central questions of gun control for two centuries, the Supreme Court found its voice Thursday in a decision affirming the right to have guns for self-defense in the home and addressing a constitutional riddle almost as old as the republic over what it means to say the people may keep and bear arms.” (06/26/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/43rzv9 | |
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“”Following Thursday’s (5-4) ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms, and that a municipal gun ban violates that right, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) filed a federal lawsuit (complaint) challenging the City of Chicago�s long-standing handgun ban. ‘Chicago’s handgun ban has failed to stop violent crime,’ SAF founder Alan Gottlieb stated. ‘It’s time to give the Constitution a chance.’” (06/26/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4smoth | |
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“Armed neighbors are now patrolling the Central Avenue business district in response to a shooting and three armed robberies at nearby businesses. Overall, neighbors and police say the area is safe. The Neighborhood Watch Alliance, started by Scott Yamanashi, includes nightly patrols from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.Yamanashi says there are up to 20 members who wish to remain anonymous. Nearly all, he says, have conceal and carry permits and take their handguns with them during their patrols.” (06/26/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4gw4oc | |
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“A 20-year-old man is accused of breaking into a Gary home, holding a knife to three children inside and then raping their 16-year-old baby sitter. … The teen had just given the two young girls and little boy she was baby-sitting some cookies and tea Saturday when a man, later identified as Hines, came out of the master bedroom holding a knife in his right hand, police said. He told the three children to stand against the wall, adding he would kill them if they said anything, court records state. Hines then grabbed the teen by the arm and pulled her into the bedroom, threatening to kill her if she didn’t do what he said …. One of the children ran next door to the neighbor’s house and told them what happened. Someone knocked on the bedroom window while Hines and the teen were inside and then knocked on the front door. Hines let the teen go, and she opened the door …. Hines told police he went to the house to visit a friend, saw the teen in the bedroom and asked what she was doing. He said he started to take off his shorts and a knife fell out of his pocket, which scared her, police said. Hines said the kids heard the teen scream and then some ‘dudes’ came in and one had a gun.” (06/25/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/53e23y | |
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“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Washington D.C.’s sweeping ban on handguns is unconstitutional. The justices voted 5-4 against the ban with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion for the majority. At issue in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether the city’s ban violated the Second Amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ by preventing individuals — as opposed to state militias — from having guns in their homes. … The Second Amendment says, ‘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.’ The wording repeatedly has raised the question of whether gun ownership is an individual right, or a collective one pertaining to state militias and therefore subject to regulation. The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.” (06/26/08) Link: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/26/scotus.guns/index.html | |
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“A license to kill or a leg up for law enforcement — the verdict may still be out, but the Knesset approved into law Tuesday evening the legislation known as the ‘Shai Dromi Bill’ … aimed at giving property owners more freedom to use fatal force against intruders who break into their homes, businesses or farms. The legislation, named for the Negev farmer who in January 2007 shot at a group of people who broke into his farm … Dromi was charged with manslaughter, a decision that caused a public uproar. In the ensuing year, bumper-stickers blossomed on cars nationwide bearing the phrase ‘We are all Shai Dromi,’ expressing lack of public faith in the police’s ability to stop property crime, particularly in rural areas.” (06/24/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4qhszv | |
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“Manslaughter acquitted Padraig Nally says he now wants gardai to return the gun he used to kill burglar John ‘Frog’ Ward. The Mayo farmer has demanded the return of his shotgun, claiming he is living in fear of being attacked at his home again. Mr Nally (64) was cleared of manslaughter after shooting dead Traveller Mr Ward, who he caught breaking into his home four years ago. He now maintains: ‘Everyone is saying I should have a gun.’ Mr Nally said he was informed at the time of the trial that he would not be allowed to have a firearm again under any circumstances, but had since been told he was now entitled to one because of his acquittal.” (06/23/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6cgwag | |
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“A man was shot during an attempted robbery at a home in Cumberland Wednesday morning. Investigators with the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit say there was an altercation at a home in the 300-block of Pulaski Street. Residents heard gunshots just before 6:50 a.m. Police say Michael Evans and Corey Adams of Petersburg, Virginia came into the house and demanded money. Evans was shot at several times in the buttocks and leg. The two ran out of the home and drove out of the area.” (06/25/08) Link: http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=19141 | |
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“If Duane Suddeth had his way, he could strap on a handgun and wear it — anytime, anywhere — without concealing it. That day has not come in Texas, but the 42-year-old Bedford man is among thousands hoping it is on its way. “This is the public’s right,” Suddeth said. “Whether they choose to exercise that or not is up to them.” Texas, despite its independence and frontier reputation, is one of only six states where handguns cannot — in some form — legally be worn in plain view.” (06/23/08) Link: http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/715977.html | |
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“The Ranson City Council is expected to abandon efforts to pass a proposed ordinance that would ban firearms from city-owned property due to pressure from gun rights groups. Groups such as the National Rifle Association and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League have sent letters to city officials decrying the proposed ordinance and have threatened to take action should the council attempt to pass it. ‘I think it’s enough to say that we’ve heard from the interested parties — without being specific about who the interested parties are — and we feel that it is probably in our best judgment to forgo any further action relative to this situation,’ Ranson Mayor A. David Hamill said Monday.” (06/24/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5xl9dc | |
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“The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on the District’s strict handgun ban. The controversial gun control case is being watched closely by lawyers on both sides. Before a packed courtroom in March, justices heard arguments in the case that could overturn the city’s 1977 handgun ban, which is the strictest in the nation. The city argues that the law is reasonable and that it curbs violent crime that would get worse with legal handguns in homes. Opponents say the law violates the Second Amendment right to defend the home and has had no impact on city violence.” (06/24/08) Link: http://www.nbc4.com/politics/16689571/detail.html | |
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“Kentucky State Police are investigating a shooting in McCreary County that happened after a 19-year-old Pine Knot man awoke to being assaulted. Charles Murphy told police that about 6 a.m. Sunday he woke up to an attack by Rusty L. Hayes, 20, who had entered Murphy’s home on Ky. 1651. Murphy retrieved a handgun and shot at Hayes, hitting him twice, police said. Hayes was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville for treatment.” (06/22/08) Link: http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/441035.html | |
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“The Vitter bill treats concealed carry permits much the same as drivers’ licenses, where one state’s license is recognized in all other states.In addressing the matter of reciprocity, the first concern of GOA and Sen.Vitter is that it be done constitutionally and that it respects states’ rights.Unlike another senate reciprocity measure, S. 388, Vitter’s bill does not establish “national standards” for concealed carry. It simply says that states allowing concealed carry must recognize the CCW permits of other states.” (06/22/08) Link: http://newsblaze.com/story/20080622184453zzzz.nb/topstory.html | |
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“Senator David Vitter (R-LA) is planning to introduce a concealed carry reciprocity bill next week. Senator Vitter had been working closely with Gun Owners of America to draft and file a reciprocity amendment a few weeks ago, but that amendment, unfortunately, never saw the light of day — thanks to powerful opponents inside the Senate. However, Sen. Vitter has continued undaunted and last week sent a Dear Colleague letter to his fellow senators, asking them to cosponsor his forthcoming bill, the ‘Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.’” (06/23/08) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=1343 | |
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“At a time when even nail files and pocket knives are barred from courts, Hillsdale County has reopened its historic courthouse to citizens who legally pack weapons. Circuit Judge Michael Smith recently ordered the ‘no guns’ signs removed at the courthouse in downtown Hillsdale, saying the ban is against state law. Smith said that courthouses are not exempt from state concealed-weapons laws, so there’s no way to lawfully stop people from carrying a concealed weapon if they’re licensed properly. The ban against citizens carrying guns in courts is based on a 2001 administrative order by the Michigan Supreme Court, not on legislation.” (06/20/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/572zby | |
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“Three people are in custody after an all-day manhunt after an attempted home burglary on Sherrilltown Road in the Norene Community, south-southeast of Lebanon, on Thursday. Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said the incident began around 7 a.m. yesterday when a home on Sherrilltown Road was allegedly broken into. Alan Ricketts, brother of the man who owns the home, and their father, heard the break-in and ran and confronted the three suspects as they were leaving the residence. Ricketts and their father reside nearby. Ashe said the three suspects tried to run over Ricketts and his father in their truck. Ricketts and his father then began shooting at the three. The gunshots damaged the truck which ended up in a ditch. The three suspects escaped on foot.” (06/19/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/6mnbnn | |
Commentary
jump to News Section | jump to Events and Movement News Section
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“How did I become so addicted to fireworks? The basic motives were love and pride. As the liberals might say, I did it for the children. Growing up near Atlanta, I was no more into cherry-bomb hooliganism than any other normal red-blooded American boy. My older brother Kirby was more of the fireworks buff in the family. He always had a supply of roman candles and rockets every Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve, and I usually just watched. Then, in 1997, I got a job in Washington and came north with my wife, our 8-year-old daughter and our twin sons. The boys were then 5 and learning to read, and as we headed rolled northward through Tennessee, the little geniuses quickly deciphered the word ‘fireworks’ beckoning from billboards alongside I-81.” (07/03/08) Link: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13472 | |
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“Walt Disney World believes it is exempt from a new state law that allows Florida residents to keep firearms in their vehicles while at work, according to an internal memo obtained by a newspaper. … the bill states that property owned or leased by an employer who has a permit required by federal law to manufacture, use, store or move explosives would still be off limits. Disney has a permit for its fireworks shows.” (07/03/08) Link: http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5299954&page=1 | |
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So, what the Heller our friends at the ACLU going to do now?
Source: Concurring Opinions Author: Kaimipono Wenger “[T]his ambivalence is consistent with ACLU history — the ACLU has not been a second-amendment rights organization, historically. Instead, it’s taken a distinctly agnostic view. Interestingly, though, the ACLU has explicitly linked that agnostic approach to Miller. Thus, the stated grounds for the ACLU’s prior agnosticism no longer exist. Yep. One doesn’t have to be Mike O’Shea to notice that about the entire stated legal underpinning for ACLU neutrality has now been, um, blown to smithereens. Heller definitely protects something individual. (How that balances against government interest remains very fuzzy in a lot of places, as Mike notes, but there’s definitely an underlying, individual something.)” (0702/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4sy4hc | |
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“Advocates of freedom dodged a bullet last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the right to keep and bear arms, the subject of the Second Amendment, is an individual, not a collective, right. Opponents of gun ownership have long maintained that the Amendment’s reference to the militia indicates that the right does not apply to private persons.” (07/02/08) Link: http://www.fff.org/comment/com0807a.asp | |
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“For all of the hype, last week’s Second Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court won’t have much practical effect, at least in the short term. And we likely won’t know it’s long-term implications for years. D.C. v. Heller wasn’t so much a victory for gun rights as it was a deft aversion of defeat. The Supreme Court addressed its first broad gun rights case in decades and came away finding that the Constitution confers an individual right to bear arms, not a collective right. A 5-4 decision the other way would have been devastating. Still, this victory seems hollow. … Heller’s lawyers’ strategy (a wise one, in my opinion) was to argue the case narrowly enough that courts couldn’t throw it out, forcing the federal court system once and for all to determine whether the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms applies strictly to militias or to each of us as individuals.” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374222,00.html | |
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“It didn’t take many calls over the weekend to leave us with the impression that Mayor Bloomberg is mistaken in his assertion that the Supreme Court’s decision on the right to keep a gun is not going to have an impact on New York’s regulation of guns. It is true that the Supreme Court ruled on only one case, ordering the District of Columbia to issue a permit to Dick Heller to enable him to keep his pistol in his home. But the interpretation that the court gave to the Second Amendment — that it is an individual, civil right — was so ringing that it immediately was greeted with lawsuits against the most restrictive jurisdictions in the country. These started with Chicago and San Francisco. It is hard to imagine that New York is not going to be the target of suits as well.” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.nysun.com/editorials/why-not-here/80930/ | |
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“The U.S. Supreme Court D.C. v. Heller decision now makes it clear to all — the Second Amendment affirms an individual right to own firearms for the purpose of self-defense. Even though the Court’s opinion leaves room for laws regulating guns in schools and government buildings, as well as restricting ‘dangerous and unusual weapons,’ these exceptions should be considered just that — exceptions. The opinion devotes only three pages to them, toward the end of a lengthy discourse on the historical basis for the individual right interpretation.” (06/30/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5etuh3 | |
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“The Supreme Court ruling on gun laws last Thursday created media frenzy. Editorials, columnists, anchors and pundits predicted it would result in an American Armageddon. According to the major media outlets in the nation, innocent lives will be lost, the Supreme Court justices have joined forces with city criminals and life as we’ve known it is over. Who knew upholding the Constitution would have such disastrous effects?” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27262 | |
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“Wilmette has suspended enforcement of its 19-year-old ordinance banning handgun possession in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to invalidate such bans. In a 5-4 decision, the court struck down Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns, a prohibition similar to those used in several major cities, including Chicago, and a handful of suburbs including Wilmette, Evanston, Winnetka and Oak Park. ‘The Law Department and the Police Department have suspended enforcement of the ordinance pending further review by the Village Board,’ Wilmette village attorney Tim Frenzer said Thursday. ‘Based on the decision today, at a minimum it calls into serious question the continued viability of the ordinance.’” (06/29/08) Link: http://transsylvaniaphoenix.blogspot.com/2008/06/domino-fall.html | |
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“In parts one and two, we looked in detail at the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States. In this third part, we will examine the dissenting opinions. Dissenting opinions hold no rule of law, but are oftentimes cited as persuasive authority by those who wish to change laws or file additional lawsuits. They can even be used by a future court to overturn a previous decision. While we won in this case and SCOTUS affirmed that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is indeed an individual right and that the DC gun ban is unconstitutional, we came within one justice of losing on both counts. The Dissenting Opinions will help us understand why.” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4019/83/ | |
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“In deciding that the Second Amendment means what it says, the Supreme Court relied on Connecticut’s post-Revolutionary libertarian gun history. Bet you didn’t know we were one of three states (the others being Mississippi and Alabama) that adopted what the Supreme Court called ‘even more individualistic phrasing’ of Second Amendment analogues as state law. That’s right: While the wording of the constitutional right to bear arms took more than 200 years to resolve, Connecticut removed all doubt in the first years of America’s existence by enshrining into our state constitution in 1818 the following words of common-sense wisdom: ‘Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defence of himself and the state.’ With only a modernized spelling change from ‘defence’ to ‘defense,’ those exact words are still incorporated as Section 15 of Article 1 in our current constitution, adopted in 1965.” (for publication 07/03/08) Link: http://www.fairfieldweekly.com/article.cfm?aid=8557 | |
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“The Supreme Court rightly deserves applause for its fidelity to the Constitution in deciding Heller. The case is perhaps the most significant decision of this century. However, Americans should not forget that this was a 5-4 decision. Four justices of the Supreme Court would have ignored the plain language and historical context of the Amendment. Believing themselves at liberty to rewrite fundamental law, these justices would leave Americans at the mercy of armed criminals and a future government tyranny. The Second Amendment is part of the same Bill of Rights that guarantees liberty of the press, the right of assembly, and freedom of religious worship. If a near majority of the Court attempted to erase the Second Amendment from the Constitution, what is to stop them from taking a cavalier approach to other constitutional rights?” (07/01/08) Link: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2250 | |
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DC v. Heller: Not about guns, about self-governance and safer streets
Source: Good For the Country Author: John Longenecker “There is no such thing as a sensible gun law, and gun bans are a fake-out fraud and abuse of power. Unwind Gun Bans and you begin to unwind other abuses so adverse to Family and Liberty. The Second Amendment to our Constitution was made absolute for several reasons. In fact, the Second Amendment wasn’t even written for citizens. I get a predictable reaction from talk radio hosts when I say this, but follow-up clears it all up. Gun control is a European concept totally inappropriate for the Founders who escaped that kind of thinking at the nation’s inception. Let’s call it for what it is: Gun Bans are a fraud of window dressing and control. Gun bans are a fake-out and abuse of power backed by official Force, and the Supreme Court just struck down a fake-out and abuse of power.” (06/28/08) Link: http://www.goodforthecountry.com/ | |
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“Events in the U.S. and Toronto highlight differences between our two countries on firearms. As Toronto city council bans shooting clubs within city limits, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling validating private gun ownership as constitutionally protected, overruling a restrictive D.C. law banning handguns. Canadians have an interesting relationship with guns. Canada is home to millions of firearms and our level of gun ownership of 22% is close to France and Sweden, yet we speak about them with terror and pretend guns are something only Americans own.” (06/28/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5kl923 | |
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“I’ve spent the past couple of days reading analysis and opinions on the recent DC vs Heller decision by the Supreme Court. I was listening when they announced the opinion, and was reading it within minutes of it being posted. It is a landmark decision, no doubting that, but also pretty scary both for what it doesn’t say, and for how close it was. Scalia really outdid himself this time, and Stevens and Breyer should be ashamed of themselves for the shoddy work they did on their dissents. It’s worth reading the opinions just for the amusing name-calling. I’ve spent about all the time I’ve been away from work since then reading commentary and analysis of the opinions and what may come out of them. This is a very narrow opinion, though I think it has a lot more depth than a lot of the anti-rights people realize.” (06/30/08) Link: http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/08/06/30/hunter.htm | |
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“While the gun rights debate is still important, what other threats to freedom must we face and deal with? Remember, once the enemies of liberty find a way to start restricting one set of rights, they will find a way to restrict others.Most importantly, the next time we go buy weapons, it will be those who try to stop us, not we who are exercising our God given and Constitutionally guaranteed rights, who will have society telling them that they are doing something shameful.” (06/29/08) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle474-20080629-07.html | |
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“Like the inhabitants of other formerly free societies, Americans are content to define ‘freedom’ in terms of those liberties we are permitted to exercise. Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller is perfectly in harmony with this self-defeating concept of ‘freedom.’ It is entirely appropriate that the decision was written by Antonin Scalia, the most reliably authoritarian and consistently liberty-aversive member of the Court. With an air of regal condescension, Scalia allows that the Second Amendment acknowledges and protects an individual right to armed self-defense. He then explicitly limits the extent to which that ‘right’ can be exercised, thereby redefining it as a State-conferred privilege.” 906/27/08) Link: http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2008/06/heller-misdirection.html | |
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“The Supreme Court’s decision in the District of Columbia vs. Heller case settles a long, heated debate, finding the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to own weapons for self-defense — not merely a right related to membership in a ‘well-regulated militia.’ But the ruling doesn’t end the struggle over gun control, nor does it mean gun regulations have been eliminated. The court lists a number of laws the decision does not affect, including concealed-weapon prohibitions and “long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4ytd94 | |
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“Following Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on guns, sundry outraged mayors were fuming because the justices, ‘for the first time,’ discovered in the Constitution an individual right to bear arms, placing in danger all their precious (though thoroughly counterproductive) local victim disarmament edicts. The city of Chicago, for instance, currently governed by yet another Richard Daley (how many does this one make?) had filed an amicus brief arguing that since the Second Amendment restricts only federal gun-banning, it shouldn’t apply to Cook County. That argument would have made some sense before enactment of the 14th Amendment in 1867 (apparently it still takes some time for news to reach Chicago), specifically barring states, counties and municipalities from restricting the rights of U.S. citizens. This was done specifically to stop recalcitrant racist jurisdictions in the years immediately following the Civil War from attempting to limit the rights of black citizens to register and go to the polls.” (06/29/08) Link: http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/22628039.html | |
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“Much is being said about the recently decided Heller case. Though I do prefer the guild of magic robes to respect our rights, nobody can revoke or restrict the individual right to own and carry weapons. They can only make it harder to practice.There is a reason why this is a key issue for most libertarians. I’m not going to say that owning a gun determines whether one is free or a slave or a sheep or some other kind of animal. It is silly to claim that freedom is defined by material possessions. However, people taking back the use of weapons is a powerful affirmation of individual liberty against authority. ” (06/29/08) Link: http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2008/tle474-20080629-06.html | |
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“One aspect of the Heller majority opinion that has not yet attracted the attention of commentariat, but may be greatly important of the long run, is the presence of natural law. Heller reaffirms a point made in the 1876 Cruikshank case. The right to arms (unlike, say, the right to grand jury indictment) is not a right which is granted by the Constitution. It is a pre-existing natural right which is recognized and protected by the Constitution …. Heller moves self-defense from the shadowy limbo of the Ninth Amendment into the bright uplands of the Second Amendment. It is now beyond dispute, in an American court, that self-defense is an inherent right, and that it is protected by the United States Constitution.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4cw3x9 | |
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“Funny how landmark Supreme Court decisions seem never actually to settle anything.The court, to be sure, handed down a big one yesterday — ruling by a 5-4 margin that a Washington, DC, ban on handgun ownership violates the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. It’s a welcome decision — if only in its faithfulness to the uniquely American role of a written Constitution in protecting individual liberties. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in District of Columbia v. Heller, demonstrated clearly and forcefully that the language of the Second Amendment does, in fact, include an individual right to gun ownership — end of story.Well, maybe not.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/4swy3o | |
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“”Now that the Supreme Court Of The United States has ruled that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is truly an individual right and struck down the DC gun ban, proponents on both sides of the issue are planning their next move. While the NRA and other groups are planning to file more lawsuits against other cities with similar bans (Chicago and San Francisco to name two), gun control groups are scrambling to find ways of using the ruling to their advantage. To understand the next steps, we have to first understand just what the Court said.” [Part II available here] (06/26/08) Link: http://www.ohioccw.org/content/view/4016/83/ | |
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“Gun-control fanatics have had the foundation pulled from beneath their house of cards. For years, they have both lived and cultivated a lie about the meaning of the Second Amendment, leaving one justifiably curious about what other deceptions they have fostered in their crusade to disarm American citizens. They have masked their intentions with such terms as ’sensible legislation’ and ‘gun safety measure,’ but the ultimate goal has always been to regulate gun ownership out of existence. Perhaps their campaign will shift to cities, where they will lobby mayors and city councils to ban firearms, including those carried by legally licensed citizens, from all public property. Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling appears to leave that door cracked open.” (06/27/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/3kdlpa | |
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“It’s not much of a surprise to see the Supreme Court strike down the District of Columbia’s gun laws, which had effectively banned handguns and required that any long guns be stored in non-functioning states. But until the opinions in this closely watched case became public yesterday, it was not clear how emphatically the justices would do so, how much they’d disagree amongst themselves, or how sound their reasoning would be.” (06/27/08) Link: http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13439 | |
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“In the news today, top mathematicians have determined that two plus two equals four, top theologians proclaim that the Pope is Catholic, and the U.S. Supreme Court declares that the Second Amendment is about an individual’s right to keep and bear arms. In other news of the bleeding obvious …. While gun rights proponents are celebrating today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court (and leftists are making their usual predictions of mayhem and death), I’d like to point out how profoundly idiotic it was for there to ever be a QUESTION about the issue in the first place.” (06/29/08) Link: http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=1349 | |
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Supreme Court affirms individual right: What’s next?
Source: Independent Institute Author: Don B. Kates, Jr. “Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in District of Columbia vs. Heller that the District’s 1976 handgun ban violated the Second Amendment rights of residents who wish to keep handguns and other firearms in their homes. The ruling adds support to recent legislation such as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 and the D.C. Personal Protection Act Bill of 2005, which favor the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. More importantly, the decision further creates an opportunity for the re-assessment of any other bill that denies citizens these same rights. In fact, the court system may now be forced to examine which (if any) gun ban laws deter criminals from obtaining and misusing firearms. Such an examination would reveal that banning handguns not only fails to stop violent criminals from committing crimes, but also denies law-abiding adults a critical means of self-defense.” (06/26/08) Link: http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2247 | |
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“The Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, upholding the Second Amendment right of individuals to own firearms, should finally lay to rest the widespread myth that the defining difference between liberal and conservative justices is that the former support ‘individual rights’ and ‘civil liberties,’ while the latter routinely defer to government assertions of authority. The Heller dissent presents the remarkable spectacle of four liberal Supreme Court justices tying themselves into an intellectual knot to narrow the protections the Bill of Rights provides. Or perhaps it’s not as remarkable as we’ve been led to think.” (06/27/08) Link: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9511 | |
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“For the past 32 years, law-abiding residents of Washington, D.C. have been at the mercy of one of America’s most unforgiving gun control laws: a total ban on the possession of handguns in the home, as well as strict trigger lock and disassembly requirements for rifles and shotguns. Taken together, these restrictions have left Washingtonians unable to mount any sort of meaningful defense of themselves, their families, and their homes from armed intruders. But things changed on Thursday. … One major thing the decision didn’t do, however, was directly address a crucial question going forward: whether the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is applicable against the states as well as the federal government (which administers Washington, D.C.).” (06/27/08) Link: http://www.reason.com/news/show/127243.html | |
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“This morning, I’m noting a lot of ill informed …or perhaps just informed by misunderstanding of the text … opinions and statements regarding the historic Heller ruling on the scope and applicability of the 2nd amendment. This of course is unsurprising when many people of varying levels of knowledge about law, history, and firearms have just a short time to digest a 90 page majority opinion and another 70 pages of dissents and cites. In the table below, I’ve selected out the critical passages, and highlighted some of those I consider most instructive or important (bold for important, red for critical).” (06/26/08) Link: http://tinyurl.com/5j8ubj | |
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“It disappoints in many areas. While it affirms that the right to keep and bear arms for defence of self and property, it also leaves intact an array of infringements on the right. … While I applaud the decision, I cannot help but be concerned about certain clarifications in the decision. ‘Our later decisions in Presser v. Illinois, 116 U. S. 252, 265 (1886) and Miller v. Texas, 153 U. S. 535, 538 (1894), reaffirmed that the Second Amendment applies only to the Federal Government.’ This one sentence undoes everything which went before, as it presents the Amendment as something which does not apply to the states, only to the Feds.” (06/26/08) Link: http://uncivildefence.blogspot.com/2008/06/heller-is-in-and.html | |
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“On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. This case represents the first time the Court has considered in detail the nature and scope of the Second Amendment. … There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is an excellent result which gun owners should be very pleased with. The decision clearly and unambiguously establishes the strong and fundamental nature of the individual right to keep and bear arms. Significantly, however, the Court noted that the right to keep and bear arms is not without limitations, just as the right to free speech is not unlimited.” (06/26/08) Link: http://jpfo.org/alerts02/alert20080626.htm | |
Events and Movement News
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Is the Second Amendment an Individual Right?
Source: Independent Institute Event Date(s): June 9,2008 Last year, a federal appeals court overturned the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns. Now the U.S. Supreme Court will decide the case after nearly seventy years of silence on the Second Amendment. Observers expect the Court to finally settle the legal question of whether the constitutional ‘right of the people to keep and bear arms’ is an individual right held by all, or a ‘collective right’ of the state governments to maintain militias. What did the Founders intend when they drafted the Second Amendment? Please join us as constitutional legal scholar and Independent Institute Research Fellow Stephen P. Halbrook and George Mason University Law School legal historian Joyce Lee Malcolm examine these issues. Wine & Cheese Reception 5:00 pmProgram 6:00-7:00 pmQ & A to follow The Independent Institute,1319 Eighteenth Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. (06/04/08) Link: http://www.independent.org/events/detail.asp?eventID=137 | |
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“A gunman has opened fire with a rifle in a shopping centre in the US state of Nebraska, killing eight people before fatally shooting himself, police say. A further five people were wounded — two critically — in the shooting at the Westroads Mall in Omaha. Police have identified the gunman as Robert Hawkins, 19, from Bellevue, close to Omaha. They said a suicide note had been recovered. Hawkins struck as the centre was crowded with Christmas shoppers. Witnesses spoke of shoppers screaming and scrambling to find safe shelter as the gunman struck.” [editor’s note: Naturally, no witnesses spoke of the armed citizen who put this animal down BEFORE he had time to shoot 13 people and himself. Why? Because there were almost certainly “no guns” signs posted at the entrances to the mall pursuant to the idiotic agenda of declaring such places to be free-fire zones for people who don’t obey such signs - TLK] (12/06/07) Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7129906.stm | |
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“On April 16, 2007, twenty-seven students and five faculty members at Virginia Tech lost their lives to a madman who possessed one distinct advantage over his victims — He was not concerned with following the rules. Undeterred by Virginia Tech’s status as a ‘gun free zone,’ this mentally unstable individual carried two handguns onto the university campus and indiscriminately opened fire. During the week of October 22-27, 2007, college students throughout America will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens who are licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.” (10/09/07) Link: http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3989.html | |
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“In honor of the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic ‘March on Washington’ for civil rights, The Firearms Coalition is joining with other gun rights groups to declare August 28 ‘National Exercise Your Rights Day.’ Reverend Jesse Jackson is calling on citizens to exercise their First Amendment rights by participating in anti-gun/anti-violence protest marches in 25 cities nationwide on that day. The Firearms Coalition echoes that call to supporters of the Second Amendment, encouraging them to exercise their rights by purchasing a firearm or ammunition on August 28.” (08/26/07) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2loz6f | |
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“It’s here at last — the long-awaited 85-minute DVD documentary exposing the irresponsible, malicious, and criminal actions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE). After just the first few shocking minutes you’ll fully understand why we call it: The Gang. … DVDs are for sale NOW at www.thegangmovie.com (or through our online store at www.jpfo.org/store.htm ). Now it’s time for each of us to use The Gang. Really use it to rid ourselves, once and for all, of what can rightly be called an infamous criminal syndicate masquerading as a legitimate federal agency.” (05/28/07) Link: http://www.jpfo.org/alert20070528.htm | |
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“Openly armed firearms enthusiasts packed a normally sedate government building Thursday night, hoping to win a pistol or rifle and at the same time send a defiant message to gun-control advocates, especially New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, organized the ‘Bloomberg Gun Giveaway’ in large part to thumb its nose at Bloomberg, who accuses some shops of allowing illegal purchases of firearms that later were used in crimes in his city.” (05/17/07) Link: http://tinyurl.com/2mtwfo | |
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“As students, parents and citizens we demand our State Legislatures recognize our right to defend ourselves on college campuses across the nation. School shootings and violence will never be stopped. As individuals and concerned citizens we deserve the right to defend ourselves even when we are on campus. We are licensed by our State Governments to carry handguns to protect ourselves but they tie our hands at school. We are adults who have taken on the responsibility to carry concealed weapons to defend ourselves. We are not criminals. We are not crazy. We are citizens who have proved that we are capable of being responsible carrying weapons in public.” (04/18/07) Link: http://concealedcampus.org/index.htm | |
