OK NRA… Now Take the Ball and Run
The 5-4 decision in D.C. v. Heller represents a great victory for advocates of Second Amendment rights. Gun owners nationwide, and all who support the rights of free men in a democracy, should indeed celebrate this ruling. However, the battle is far from over. Gun advocacy groups must NOT become idle or complacent, saying “Great, we won, everything will be fine.” The battle has just begun. It is now more important that ever for the NRA and all organizations supporting gun rights to re-double their efforts to challenge unconstitutional and burdensome laws.
As reporter Charles Weller wrote famously: “Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.” The hard fight is just beginning. The decision in the Heller case provides legal ammunition to continue the fight — both to oppose new anti-gun legislation and to challenge existing laws which infringe on individual rights to keep and bear arms. Personally, I would like to see this Supreme Court ruling spawn dozens of legal challenges around the country. It’s time to go on the attack. We have an opportunity now that may come just once in a century. It’s time to get committed and fight for our rights. Groups like the NRA should start “earning their keep” and lead the effort to overturn existing unconstitutional gun regulations.
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The frustrating aspect of the unconstitutional type gun laws is that the average person is typically not in a position economically or otherwise to challenge such laws and go “toe to toe” with a municipal or government entity to fight for and protect his or her rights. The D.C. gun ban was in effect for around 30 years before Heller came along and someone was in a position and motivated enough to fight it out, and when he did, it had to go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
I applaud the majority decision but it is clear the anti gun forces will continue the “war”. Is the District of Columbia now going to be obnoxious about the loss and make the requirements so stringent for owning and keeping a gun to protect yourself in D.C. that you might as well have a gun ban. I guess I am cynical in that I see many of the anti gunners out there as somewhat rabid to do anything to get their way and impose their will on others (i.e. “the end justifies the means”).
Robert Whitley
Robert, that’s exactly what Chicago’s been doing for three decades: all firearms must be registered, but registering them is impossible, at least for the common citizen. If you’re an Aldeman though, and somehow “forget” to re-register your collection, they’ll make an exception.
Today’s SCOTUS decision means a lot to those of us who trust the wording of the Second Amendment to know what the Founding Fathers originally intended. 227 years later, there are a LOT of folks who believe they know better and would happily deprive us of our rights. They have money, they have clout, they have the means to express their agenda.
November 4th, 2008 is the next important milestone on our Journey of Recognition.
I heard a discouraging comment by a legal scholar indicating that the 2nd ammendment applies to federal action/enforcement, but does not necessarily obligate the states to honor the 2nd ammendment. Can anyone comment on this possibility?
EDITOR: Justice Scalia’s Opinion did not directly reach the issue of whether the rule of Heller will be applied to the states via “incorporation” under the 14th Amendment. But here is what Georgetown Law Professor Randy Barnett says, writing in the Wall Street Journal:
“Two important practical issues remain. First, will this ruling also apply to states and municipalities? That will depend on whether the Supreme Court decides to ‘incorporate’ the right to keep and bear arms into the 14th Amendment. But in the middle of his opinion Justice Scalia acknowledges that the 39th Congress that enacted the 14th Amendment did so, in part, to protect the individual right to arms of freedmen and Southern Republicans so they might defend themselves from violence.
My prediction: This ruling will eventually be extended to the states.”
The part that is disheartening to me is that this case was privately financed and pursued by an individual. The NRA eventually filed an amicus brief, but they were unwilling to initiate it or assist Heller and other individuals in trying to remove an onerous law. Many times, I get the impression that the NRA is more interested in the game of politics than they are gun rights. This is just one of several instances that I have followed in the last few years that bears my theory out.
Now that the hard work has been done, my prediction is that the NRA will go looking for low-hanging fruit. I predict that they will be moderately successful, but could be more successful if they studied and adopted the techniques put forward by Robert Levy, who, by the way, is a Great American.