Mitt Romney On Heller: "It is my hope that the Supreme Court will
reaffirm the individual right to keep and bear arms as enshrined in the
Bill of Rights and protect law abiding gun owners everywhere. To further
guard this fundamental liberty, as President, I will take care to
appoint judges who will not legislate from the bench but will instead
strictly interpret the Constitution."
http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Second_Amendment_Supreme_Court
---
Fred Thompson On Heller: Here's another reason why it's important that
we appoint judges who use the Constitution as more than a set of
suggestions. Today, the Supreme Court decided to hear the case of
District of Columbia v. Heller...In general, lawful gun ownership is a
pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that
citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of
self-defense. Guns enable their owners to protect themselves from
robbery and assault more successfully and more safely than they
otherwise would be able to. The danger of laws like the D.C. handgun ban
is that they limit the availability of legal guns to people who want to
use them for legitimate reasons, such as self-defense (let alone
hunting, sport shooting, collecting), while doing nothing to prevent
criminals from acquiring guns...
http://fredfile.fred08.com/blog/2007/second-amendment-a-citizens-right/
---
Sandra Froman On Heller: ...Although the briefs filed by the District
and by Heller contained statements of what each party wanted the Supreme
Court to decide, the Supreme Court rewrote the question presented and it
now reads: "Whether the [D.C. Code provisions] violate the Second
Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any
state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other
firearms for private use in their homes?" The language of the question -
the reference to "private use in their homes" - suggests that the case
will be narrowly decided and limited to possession and carrying of
firearms within the home. The Supreme Court frequently chooses to decide
issues as narrowly as possible, thus leaving room for future
interpretations. Either way the case will be important in that a
citywide gun ban will either be upheld or struck down. (Absent from this
commentary is any mention of the NRA's original opposition to the lawsuit.)
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/SandyFroman/2007/11/21/supreme_court_will_decide_meaning_of_second_amendment?page=full&comments=true
---
Larry Pratt On Heller: "The decision by the Supreme Court to rule on the
DC gun ban gives them an historic opportunity to return to the original
meaning of the Second Amendment," said Gun Owners of America's executive
director, Larry Pratt... "This is hardly a reason to ignore the
Constitution, much less because the Mayor's position is totally false,"
Pratt continued. "There are not enough guns in the District. Other than
the police, only criminals have them. That is why they are so brazen.
Assailants are much more restrained in neighboring Virginia where the
murder rate - in Fairfax County - was 0.3 per 100,000 people in 2005. In
the same year in DC, the murder rate was 100 times greater at 35 per
100,000."
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-21-2007/0004710207&EDATE=
---
Heller Will Figure In 2008 Election: By deciding yesterday to hear the
District of Columbia's appeal of the federal court ruling that
overturned DC's gun ban, the Supreme Court has ensured that gun control
and gun rights will play a major role in the coming election - and
perhaps in the high court's future, too... This will be a hard case for
the Supreme Court to duck. Cases involving state gun laws raise the
question of whether the Second Amendment applies to the states. But,
where every other US city is legally part of a state government, the
district is a direct creature of the federal government. Other issues of
legal standing that may have barred some plaintiffs have been overcome
in this case, too. And, where many gun-control laws (like the Brady Act)
merely limit gun ownership around the edges, the DC law is a pretty
total ban...
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/lawyers__guns__washington_537742.htm
---
A View From Illinois: While local gun rights activists Mike and Valinda
Rowe continue their battle here in Illinois to preserve the right to
keep and bear arms for the private Illinois citizen, a bigger battle is
brewing in Washington, D.C. that may determine once and for all the
intent of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution... The framers
never intended for the people to be subjugated to absolute rule and
wanted them to be able to arm themselves to protect themselves from
their own federal government should it become too zealous in its rule...
http://www.carmitimes.com/articles/2007/11/21/news/news3.txt
---
A Brief Libertarian History Of American "Gun Control": ... So how has
government been able to get away with all its thousands of illegal gun
control laws? The process is simple: it enacts a law, and leaves it up
to itself to decide if the law is valid. You read correctly. A
legislature enacts a gun control law, then it's challenged and goes into
the government's court system for adjudication. Judges are paid by the
government, and in the case of federal courts, judges are appointed by
the government. Naturally there are always cases of exceptional
individuals, who are able to rise above such petty matters as
maintaining one's livelihood and social status, but it would appear
intuitively obvious that, generally, judges are going to lean toward the
side of the state.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/fischer/fischer32.html
---
Man Sells Hunting Rifles To Buy Turkeys For Needy: A Wisconsin man has
sold his hunting rifles to buy 100 turkeys for needy families this
Thanksgiving. Pat Callahan says his kidneys are failing and he's no
longer able to hunt deer, so he decided he'd sell his guns to help
others. It's not the first time Callahan has done something like that.
The former auto technician has also raised money for various causes in
his home town of Merrill by selling the tools from his former business,
Doc's Auto Repair.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1565891.html
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
