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The Second Amendment states that "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."
On 20 November, the Supreme Court accepted for review the Heller
case, on the right to own a gun, from the District of Columbia.
The lower court, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, had
ruled that individual citizens had a Second Amendment right to own
guns for self-defense in the District, contrary to the law passed
by the D.C. Council.
This is a critical case to bring the 2nd Amendment
in from the cold. All other basic rights from the Bill of Rights
have long since been declared "fundamental" and applied
to the states as well as to the federal government. Now, it is finally
time for the Supreme Court to recognize that the right of self defense
is the basic reason why they wrote this right into the Bill of Rights.
The history of the writing and the ratification of the 2nd Amendment
leads inexorably to the conclusion that it is an individual right.
Coming Soon!
1/17/08: "Late
Betrayal on Gun Rights" by Ken Blackwell
EXCERPT: "In the waning days of the Bush Administration,
Justice Department lawyers have filed a curious amicus brief in
the DC gun ban case before the US Supreme Court. The attorneys
took a middle-of-the-road approach to Second Amendment freedoms.
They argued that gun ownership is not a “fundamental” right. Instead,
they say, it is a right deserving only an “intermediate” level
of protection. The brief is a disappointing about face for a Justice
Department once lauded for its ardent defense of Second Amendment
rights. Attorney General Michael Mukasey owes gun owners an explanation
for this late betrayal."
10/15/07: "ACRU
Parker Cross-Petition Argument" by Peter Ferrara
EXCERPT: "The American Civil Rights Union filed
an amicus curiae brief in the United States Supreme Court on Friday,
October 12 in the case of Parker v. District of Columbia urging
the Court to grant the requested writ of certiorari on behalf
of 5 of the original 6 plaintiffs seeking to strike down the District's
gun control laws as unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had found that these 5 plaintiffs
did not have standing in the case and dismissed them from the
suit..."
10/9/07: "ACRU
files Amicus Curiae in Heller v. DC"
EXCERPT: "The American Civil Rights Union filed
an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on October
5, urging the Court to take the appeal of the D.C. Circuit Court
of Appeals decision last March holding that the Second Amendment
does protect an individual right of citizens to keep and bear
arms. The ACRU wants the Court to take the case to affirm and
thereby greatly strengthen this landmark ruling..."
5/17/07: Will
DC Appeal Parker Case to the Supreme Court?, by Peter Ferrara
EXCERPT: "I am beginning
to think it is quite possible that DC will not appeal the ruling
of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in the Parker case. That historic
ruling concluded that the Second Amendment really does protect
an individual's...
5/7/07:
RE: Gun Rights, Friends Are Found In Unlikely Places, by Eric
F. Langborgh
EXCERPT: "In today's America, the United States
Constitution is too often treated like the Queen of England -
a powerless and non-binding relic of an earlier age. And just
as Queen Elizabeth is in the States this week leading up to..."
4/25/07: Reagan
on Gun Control and Self-Defense, by Eric F. Langborgh
EXCERPT: "My thanks to blogger Mark Alexander
and his Patriot Post for digging up this great quote from our
last truly great president, Ronald Reagan, concerning gun control:
"You won't get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens.
There's only one way... "
4/6/07: National
Review: ACRU's Ferrara Weighs in on DC Gun Ban Case
EXCERPT: "Over at National Review Online, Jennifer
Rubin has a great article in her Opening Shots column on the Parker
v. District of Columbia case and the consequent prospects for
the Second Amendment. Peter Ferrara, general counsel of the ACRU,
is..."
5/8/07: Harvard
Study: Gun Control Is Counterproductive, by Eric F. Langborgh
EXCERPT: "I've just learned that Washington,
D.C.'s petition for a rehearing of the Parker case in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit was denied today. This is
good news. Readers will recall in this case that the D.C.... "
5/8/07: A
Study of Neighbors: Is It Safer to Live Where Handguns are Banned
or Allowed?
EXCERPT: "Building on my last post ("Harvard
Study: Gun Control Is Counterproductive") - I thought it
would be instructive to look at one particular table from the
aforementioned study published in Spring 2007 in the Harvard Journal
of Law & Public... "
Department of Justice Memorandum Opinion For The Attorney
General (August 24, 2004): Whether
the Second Amendment secures a right of individuals generally, not
a right of States or a right restricted to persons serving in militias.
EXCERPT: "The Second Amendment of the Constitution
provides: “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.” You have asked for the opinion of this
Office on one aspect of the right secured by this Amendment. Specifically,
you have asked us to address the question whether the right secured
by the Second Amendment belongs only to the States, only to persons
serving in state-organized militia units like the National Guard,
or to individuals generally. This memorandum memorializes and
expands upon advice that this Office provided to you on this question
in 2001..."
Harvard
Journal Study of Worldwide Data Obliterates Notion that Gun Ownership
Correlates with Violence by Eric F. Langborgh, August 28, 2007
EXCERPT: "From the study: Whether causative
or not, the consistent international pattern is that more guns
equal less murder and other violent crime. Even if one is inclined
to think that gun availability is an important factor, the available
international data..."
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