Slow news day.
Brits Ban Reebok Ad: Britain's Advertising Standards Authority has
banned a Reebok ad that features rapper 50 Cent as a survivor of nine
gunshots. The board, acting after several complaints, said that the ad
was "inappropriate in view of the recent high profile of specific
gun-related crime in various areas of Britain."
http://news.independent.co.uk/media/story.jsp?story=639341
---
From The Firearms Coalition:
*Second Amendment is Not an Individual Right*
So says a judge of the Northern District of New York and last week his
ruling was supported by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court
of Appeals.
The Northern District judge, Norman Mordue, went out of his way to state
that , based on Supreme Court precedent and lower court interpretation
of those precedents, the Second Amendment does not protect a fundamental
individual right. In contrast, the Second Circuit panel avoided any
interpretation of the meaning or intent of the Second Amendment by
saying that "Although the sweep of the Second Amendment has become the
focus of a national legal dialogue, we see no need to enter into that
debate. Instead, we hold that the Second Amendment's "right to keep and
bear arms" imposes a limitation on only federal, not state, legislative
efforts."
The Northern District Court relied primarily on /United States v.
Miller/ in it's conclusion that the Second Amendment does not guarantee
an individual right even while admitting that it wasn't clear as to what
the Court was trying to say in it's decision in that case.
The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals based it's conclusion that the Second
Amendment applies only to federal law and does not limit the actions of
the states, was based upon the case of /Presser v. Illinois/. In that
decision from the 1880's, the High Court cited /United States v.
Cruikshank/ as its ruling precedent. The 1875 /Cruikshank/ decision is
one of the historical lows of the United States Supreme Court in which
the Court abandoned freed slaves to the racist whims of their local
government and constabulary.
The 2nd Circuit did admit that there was much criticism of the /Presser/
decision but said, in essence, that its hands were tied and that it was
up to the Supreme Court to overturn the /Presser/ decision if it was to
be overturned.
With such decisions and such a direct challenge, it would be difficult
for the Supreme Court to avoid a review of this case and most of the
Second Amendment precedents currently in effect.
I am not an attorney, but it looks to me like this is a very good case
with a stellar plaintiff and that this is one that will likely land in
the Supreme Court. I am a little concerned that this case is as
far-reaching as it is. I fear that, if the Court has the guts to hear
it, they will feel compelled to "nuance" their decision into oblivion
rather than come right out and declare that the Second Amendment secures
an individual right that may not be abridged by the states or the
federal government.
I don't believe the current court has the cajones for such a
declaration, which reiterates the importance of pending judicial
appointments.
Yours for the Second Amendment,
Jeff
Jeff Knox
Director of Operations
The Firearms Coalition
www.FirearmsCoalition.org <
http://www.firearmscoalition.org/>
P.S. I will have more about this case in the next */Hard Corps Report/*
which will be mailed out this month and will put an article about it in
Shotgun News soon.
If you don't currently receive the /*Hard Corps Report*/, drop us a
donation - Box 3313, Manassas, VA 20108 - and we'll add you to our
mailing list.
Please share these alerts with your friends and post them to your
favorite Blogs. Information is power. Share the power.
---
From The Fifty Caliber Institute:
Both the Illinois and National Rifle Associations are reporting that
both bills in Illinois seeking to ban .50 caliber rifles moved out of
committee and are headed to the floor for a vote. NRA, in fact, (
http://www.nraila.org/CurrentLegislation/Read.aspx?ID=1590) credits gun
owners' calls to IL legislators as being DIRECTLY responsible for
slowing the rush to judgment on this rifle caliber. Your efforts are
bearing fruit! Keep up the push.
Contact with your elected officials is again needed, if this pointless
legislation is to be stopped. Illinois residents should contact their
representatives within the next 48 hours. A phone call would help
greatly, a letter or fax sent by you TODAY would be even better.
Regardless of the means, you MUST contact them once again if you wish to
retain your 2nd Amendment rights!
Even if you've already spoken to them, contact them again. Tell your
elected representatives that you OPPOSE HB1098 and HB2414.
While both bills ban the .50 caliber, HB2414 bans numerous
semi-automatic rifles and shotguns as well. Since most fifty-shooters
also own shotguns and rifles of other calibers, HB2414 is doubly
offensive to your rights. Semi-auto bans failed to make a difference in
crime at the federal level. They won't reduce crime at the state
level. And the fifty-caliber is historically even LESS of a threat,
despite what Hollywood says.
Write and call your representatives today! Since HB2414 also bans
numerous other firearms, pass the word to your fellow shooters. Ask
them to contact their legislators as well. Even if they don't own a
fifty rifle, they have a stake in this too.
You can get contact information about your elected representatives at
this website:
http://www.illinois.gov/government/gov_legislature.cfm
Or you can use the "Write your Representatives" tool at the NRA website:
http://www.capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/
The gun-banners think you're not looking anymore. Are you ?
Keith Pagel
Executive Director,
Fifty Caliber Institute
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
