Sniping Continues In Heller Case: In this Legal Times story this week
and in a BLT post on Friday, we reported on continued wrangling over how
and whether to divide up the argument time before the Supreme Court in
the Second Amendment gun rights case D.C. v. Heller. Solicitor General
Paul Clement is seeking 15 minutes of argument time over and above the
30 minutes allotted for D.C.'s defense of its handgun ordinance and the
30 minutes for the challengers to the law. Alan Gura, lawyer for the
challengers, says he does not want Clement's argument time to come out
his half-hour, instead agreeing to allow Texas Solicitor General R. Ted
Cruz to take 10 of his 30 minutes on behalf of 31 states on his side.
Not so fast, says Walter Dellinger of O'Melveny & Myers, who is arguing
on behalf of the District of Columbia. In a filing with the Court late
Friday, he opposed Texas' request to divide argument time, in part
arguing that if Texas gets time, then any state in any future case could
also seek time based on the possible impact of a case on its laws...
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2008/02/sniping-continu.html
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The Biggest Irony In Heller?: Robert Levy, the man paying for a U.S.
Supreme Court challenge to the District of Columbia's handgun ban, has
built his own financial-data business and enrolled in law school as a
50-year-old. The one thing he has never done is own a gun. "Here in Bay
Colony, it's not quite the high-risk crime area that might require a
gun," he said during lunch by the pool at his Naples, Florida, club.
Levy, 66, is a driving force behind a case that may confer a
constitutional right for individuals to own a firearm. The libertarian
scholar helped put the lawsuit together - over the objections of the
National Rifle Association - and now is before the nation's highest
court in the only case he has ever filed as a lawyer...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=atP8CmD4vVfg&refer=us
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Montana Secretary Of State On Heller: ...The court must decide in Heller
whether the Second Amendment secures a right for individuals to keep and
bear arms or merely grants states the power to arm their militias, the
National Guard. This latter view is called the "collective rights"
theory. A collective rights decision by the court would violate the
contract by which Montana entered into statehood, called the Compact
With the United States and archived at Article I of the Montana
Constitution. When Montana and the United States entered into this
bilateral contract in 1889, the U.S. approved the right to bear arms in
the Montana Constitution, guaranteeing the right of "any person" to bear
arms, clearly an individual right. There was no assertion in 1889 that
the Second Amendment was susceptible to a collective rights
interpretation, and the parties to the contract understood the Second
Amendment to be consistent with the declared Montana constitutional
right of "any person" to bear arms... (Third item on page.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080219/EDITORIAL/646772049&template=nextpage
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Clinton Calls For "Gun Summit": Another new wrinkle from Hillary Clinton
today: she wants a presidential summit on gun control. That came up in
the Q-and-A session of her stop in De Pere, after a woman asked about
dealing with shootings such as the Northern Illinois University carnage.
Clinton started with the line she rolled out a couple days ago about
recognizing that there is "no conflict" between letting lawful gunowners
have weapons and keeping guns out of the hands of bad guys and the
mentally ill. She went on to propose a solution to coming up with a
solution for the problem - kind of like her plan to come up with a plan
for fixing another politically difficult problem, Social Security. "I
believe we really should have a summit where everybody comes together on
all sides of this issue," Clinton said. "Let's figure out how we can be
consistent with the Second Amendment, which I wholeheartedly support,
and do more to keep people safe. (BOHICA - Bend Over, Here It Comes, Again.)
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dc/2008/02/clinton-wants-a-gun-summit.html
---
Speaking Of BOHICA...: Moved by the shooting deaths of five students at
Northern Illinois University, (Chicago's) Mayor Daley today unveiled his
annual package of gun control legislation, even as a state senate
sponsor acknowledged that none of the bills could have prevented the
tragedy. Once again, Daley wants to ban semiautomatic assault weapons
and .50-caliber military-grade rifles, use the State Police to license
gun dealers and limit handgun purchases to one a month per person. He
also wants to close the "private sale loophole" that allows people to
buy guns from each other without scrutiny. But there are a few new
wrinkles, like mandating trigger locks and locked containers in homes
where guns are accessible to children under 18, instead of 14. Daley
also wants to ban the sale and possession of high-capacity magazines and
require that some semiautomatic pistols be capable of microstamping
ammunition to trace it...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/801681,021908daley.article
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Ohio Castle-Doctrine Bill To Receive Additional Hearing: Ohio's Castle
Doctrine legislation, which has already received three hearings in the
Senate, will receive a second hearing Thursday, February 21 in the Ohio
House of Representatives. The House Criminal Justice Committee, chaired
by Rep. John White (R-38), will hear proponent testimony on Rep.
Wachtmann's HB264 (Castle Doctrine). The hearing will be held at
9:30a.m. in Statehouse Room 121.
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/5421
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Utah Bill Would Allow Open Carry On Campus: If a bill proposed by Utah
lawmakers passes, U students with concealed weapons permits won't have
to cover up their guns when they go to class. Current U policy requires
weapons carriers to keep their guns concealed, a position administrators
argue is backed up by state law. House Bill 473 would amend the firearm
code to ensure that permit holders are allowed to visibly carry firearms
statewide, including the campuses of state universities and public
schools. A committee of representatives in the Utah State Legislature
unanimously passed the bill Monday. The measure will now move to the
full House.
http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2008/02/19/News/Bill-Would.Allow.Open.Carry.Of.Firearms-3218762.shtml
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Author Defends Arizona Campus-Carry Bill: Sen. Karen Johnson said she
believes the tragedy last week at Northern Illinois University would
have been avoided, or at least would have been less tragic, if faculty
members and students had been armed. The Mesa Republican on Monday urged
colleagues to approve her legislation, which would partially repeal
existing laws and regulations banning weapons on campuses of public
schools, community colleges and universities. Her proposal, SB 1214,
allows those who have a state permit to carry a concealed weapon, which
means they must be 21 or older, to have a gun on campus...The police
chiefs of the three state universities, however, all told members of the
Senate Judiciary Committee more guns on campus actually could result in
more deaths...
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/225762
Related Articles:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0219guns0219.html
http://www.asuwebdevil.com/issues/2008/02/19/news/703748
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From AzCDL:
SB 1214, an AzCDL requested bill, was heard in the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Monday, February 18, 2008.
SB 1214 proposes changes to ARS 13-3102 to allow adults with Concealed
Weapons (CCW) permits to carry concealed firearms on school campuses,
including colleges and universities. Federal law (18 USC �
922(q)(2)(B)(ii)) already allows CCW permit holders to possess firearms
on school property.
The hearing room was packed and testimony on SB 1214 lasted about two
hours. After the gun bigots, professional government lobbyists, and
paid shills for the totalitarian groups testified against SB 1214, the
media packed up their cameras and note pads and left the room, so don't
expect to see any balanced news stories.
The remainder of the citizen testimony supported SB 1214 and it was
outstanding! A number of AzCDL members took the time to testify along
with students and teachers who have to survive in our violence ridden
government controlled schools, colleges and universities. We deeply
appreciate the education professionals who came forth to testify,
knowing they were putting their careers at risk for speaking the truth.
Recorded video of the hearing will be available for viewing soon at:
http://azleg.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3 .
Unfortunately, since all committee members could not be there for the
hearing, a vote was not taken on SB 1214 at this hearing. It will
probably occur at the committee's next meeting on Monday, February 25, 2008.
The position (for or against) of everyone who logged onto to Request To
Speak (RTS) system was read into the committee minutes. RTS was heavily
used by the opponents of SB 1214 and severely under-utilized by the good
guys (our side!). We need to change that. You can access RTS from
home, once your account has been set up using one of the kiosks at the
Capitol. It's time to show a bigger presence. We urge everyone to set
up an RTS account. If you would like our help in setting one up, send
an email to
[email protected].
Other bills that we are monitoring passed out of committees on Monday,
February 18, 2008.
SB 1070, an AzCDL requested bill that proposes changes to ARS 13-3112
regarding the process for obtaining a concealed weapons permit, passed
in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, February 18, 2008 with a
5-1-1-0 vote. An amendment was added clarifying the documentation
needed to prove you "have ever" completed the required training (e.g.,
expired CCW permit, etc.).
HB 2464, which adds Community Correctional Officers and Special
Investigators to the list of law enforcement positions exempt from most
weapons misconduct violations, passed in the House Public Institutions
and Retirement Committee on Monday, February 18, 2008 with a 7-1-1-1-0
vote. AzCDL OPPOSES this bill because it exempts these individuals from
violations regarding prohibited and defaced weapons.
HB 2737 passed in the House Homeland Security and Property Rights
committee on Monday, February 18, 2008 with a 6-2-0-2-0 vote. HB 2737
prohibits rental agreements from requiring tenants to "waive or forego
the peaceful exercise of rights guaranteed under Article II,
Constitution of Arizona."
Stay tuned! As relevant legislation is introduced and progresses, we
will keep you up to date via these Alerts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AZCDL_Alerts/
These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League
(AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots
organization. Join today!
AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom
http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html
Copyright � 2008 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights
reserved.
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
