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The Second Amendment Revolution
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Here is a remarkable development. Just twenty-five years ago, there was a strong consensus, among judges and academics, that the Second Amendment did not create an individual right. No federal court had invalidated a restriction on guns on Second Amendment grounds (ever). As recently as 1992, Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative Republican appointee, rejected the individual rights view in public. (For some details, see my TNR piece, 'The Most Mysterious Right.')"

"In a short period, the consensus has shattered. There is a strong possibility that the Supreme Court will accept a view that seemed utterly implausible in the relatively recent past. Here is the question: What has happened?" ...

Whites support of gun ban rests on foggy interpretation of Second Amendment
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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writes about 'constraining' the Second Amendment in his latest opinion piece 'Guns, well-regulated, are the right of the People' (12/3), his readers must carefully keep in mind that he actually is supporting banning firearms altogether. This is what the DC v. Heller case is about and this is the proposition that he is supporting."

"His opening claim about 'people' being more than simply the plural form of 'person' is patently absurd, especially given that every other part of the Bill of Rights defends an individual right. He also fails to mention that 'well-regulated' historically meant 'functioning,' as the militias during the time period often were not subject to any real governmental regulation at all. ..." ...

Paul Helmke: The Second Amendment: Why the Reliance on The Dred Scott Decision?
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Today I post the fifth and final installment of the Brady Center Legal Action Project's thorough criticism of the appeals court decision in the DC gun case. Titled, Wishful Thinking: How the Parker Court Twisted and Misrepresented the Holdings of Supreme Court and State Cases, it explains - in one case after another - how the many decisions that the lower-court opinion cites (including the infamous Dred Scott decision) offer little or no support for its mistaken conclusions."

"The Brady Center's Legal Action Project has produced a unique document here. As far as I'm aware, it is the only criticism of its kind to provide such a detailed and scholarly treatment of the lower-court decision in the DC gun case." ...

MO: Nixon to join attorneys general on U.S. Supreme Court brief in support of Second Amendment rights
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"Attorney General Jay Nixon announced today that he will work with attorneys general from other states to file a brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of an individual's right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

"The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear a challenge to Washington, D.C.'s gun control laws. Those laws essentially ban private handgun ownership and require that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and broken down or fitted with a trigger lock. When the Supreme Court takes a case, it allows interested parties not directly involved to file amicus curiae, or 'friend of the court,' briefs." ...

NE: Nine dead in Nebraska shooting
Submitted by: JoeMerchant24
Website: http://joemerchant24.blogspot.com

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"A 19-year-old man killed eight people and then himself with a rifle at a busy mall in Omaha on Wednesday, sending terrified workers and Christmas shoppers scrambling for cover."

"Five people were wounded in the early afternoon rampage at the upscale Westroads Mall, two of them critically ..." ...

"The shooting was the latest in a series of mass killings that have shocked the United States, where gun ownership is widespread and the right to bear arms is a hotly contested constitutional issue."

"'It's hard to believe it would happen here,' said Jennifer Bettger, who left the mall ... just before the shooting. 'It stops you in your tracks. We're all asking why. Why here?'" ...
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Submitter's Note: Westroads mall is posted a "gun free" zone. Story developing.

OR: Are there guns at the home of your child's pal? Ask
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Parents that allow their children to go to other homes to play with friends may be gambling with a tragic outcome. It turns out that at least 40 percent of American homes with a child in them have guns. ..."

"If you as a parent haven't done so before, it is among your most basic of responsibilities to ask whether the homes, where your children go to play, have firearms and, if they do, whether those guns are locked away so safely that the firearms themselves are no more accessible than the ammunition that arms them." ...
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Submitter's Note: And if those guns are 'locked away', ask what kind of parent refuses to protect their children?

OH: Yet another compelling reason for concealed carry in public parks
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"'Guns don't belong in public parks.' Anti-gun extremists and their media accomplices have repeated the 'fact' many times over in effort to get the general public to believe it."

"As recently as last week, Toby Hoover, who often appears to be a one-woman show at the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, told The BG News that she disputes the notion that anyone might need to defend themselves in a public park. 'Parks are made for kids going to swing and play ball,' she said." ...

"Buckeye Firearms Association has already documented any number of proofs that would cause a prudent person to make plans to defend themselves in a public park (see the many news stories linked at the end of this article). The Columbus Dispatch has just documented one more." ...

Thompson does not have hunting license
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Fred Thompson has made a point of visiting gun shops and gun shows while hitting the campaign trail in New Hampshire and South Carolina, usually with camera crews in tow."

"But Thompson said Wednesday he does not have a hunting license, nor has be been hunting recently."

"'It's been too long, it's been too long,' Thompson told CNN Wednesday."

"Asked if he has a hunting license, Thompson said he currently does not."

"'At the present time I do not, but I have been hunting plenty of times. I usually hunt birds and used to have my own skeet shoot, and I got a chance to shoot and practice a lot back then.'"

"Thompson, an ardent defender of Second Amendment rights, was appearing in Columbia ..." ...

Giuliani reiterates support for gun control, gets booed by debate attendees
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Last week's GOP debate in Florida on CNN/YouTube will be remembered mostly for CNN's use of planted questions posed by Democrat activists and at least one Clinton campaign steering committee member. While these issues have been well-deserving of the attention they have received, another important development occurred at the debate:"

"Rudy Giuliani reiterated his support for gun control, and was soundly booed as a result." ...

CA: 2nd Amendment question the wrong one
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The question was, 'Does the Second Amendment grant gun rights to state militias or to individuals?' That reminds me of a quote by Thomas Pynchon: 'If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.'"

"Is there a presidential candidate from any party who could answer the question correctly? Yes. He's the only candidate who has taken his oath so seriously that he has literally spent thousands of hours studying the meaning, intent and scope of the Constitution. His name: Ron Paul. What would his answer be: Neither."

"How can that be? Because the Bill of Rights grants no rights, those come from our Creator. It (supposedly) protects every right retained by the people from government infringement. ..."

MS: Senator Charlie Ross Announces Candidacy
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

A fourth candidate has announced his intention to run for Chip Pickering's seat in the United States Congress. Republican Mississippi Senator Charlie Ross is seeking the 3rd Congressional District seat.

Ross has spent 11 years in the Mississippi Legislature. He says, "I will work to ensure that our nation maintains a strong military, defends our borders against illegal immigrants, protects the unborn, secures our individual second amendment rights and improves the environment for private businesses so they may flourish."

Ross will face Greg Harper, John Rounsaville, and David Landrum in the March primary.

VA: Kaine takes aim at firearm loophole
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Gov. Tim Kaine said Tuesday that he will make a 'very aggressive' push next year to close a legal loophole allowing unlicensed gun dealers to avoid checking the criminal backgrounds of buyers, hoping to win support from a legislature that has been hostile to proposed gun controls."

"Kaine has long supported proposals to close the so-called 'gun show loophole,' but has not made it a priority of his legislative agenda. On Tuesday, facing an audience that included relatives of the Virginia Tech shooting victims, Kaine said he 'will definitely be proposing to close that loophole' during the upcoming General Assembly session." ...

PA: Caucus On Leave Until Gun-Control Vote
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"Black lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House walked off the floor Wednesday to force action on gun-control legislation, and some threatened to boycott the remainder of the year's session."

"At least 12 of the 17 members of the Legislative Black Caucus, all Democrats, suddenly asked to be put on leave at the start of a debate over an open records bill."

"The walkout was a powerful gesture in a chamber where the two parties are separated by a single vote." ...

VA: Editorial: Gun data belongs in public view
Submitted by: RPA-PAC
Website: http://www.rpa-pac.org

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"It's almost inevitable that Virginia lawmakers will allow the public less access to records on who has a state permit to carry concealed handguns."

"The hullabaloo this newspaper stirred up in March, when a Roanoke Times editorial writer produced a column that included a link to the online database, pretty much assures a legislative reaction." ...

"People need access -- not to satisfy idle curiosity about who of their acquaintances might be carrying, though public records can be used that way. Rather, public access acts as an important check on government."

"If the state's concealed-carry law should fail in some way in its intent to protect public safety, the public has a need to know and a right to know. It should have the means to know."

Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, "to protect their lives and their property from bands of armed marauders", July 25, 1856
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...That the President of the United States be requested to inform the Senate if the reported reply by General Persifor F. Smith, at his quarters at Fort Leavenworth, as given to the citizens of Leavenworth City who called upon him "to protect their lives and their property from bands of armed marauders," viz: "that he had no authority, that these bands are regularly enrolled as militia of the Territory, and that everything they do is done under color of law..."

"...Notice how that there appears to be times when even the militia cannot be trusted? Perhaps that's why the following men stated what they had: ..."

John A. McClernand to Abraham Lincoln, "Something must be done to take the hand of oppression off citizens soldiers, whose zeal for their country, has prompted them to take up arms, or all will be lost", Jan. 16, 1863
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...How can you expect success, when men controlling the military destinies of the country, are more chagrined at the success of your volunteer officers than the very enemy beaten by the latter in battle?

"Something must be done to take the hand of oppression off citizens soldiers, whose zeal for their country, has prompted them to take up arms, or all will be lost--

"Do not let me be clandestinely sacrificed, or what is worse, dishonored without a hearing...."

George Washington to Island of Bermuda [British] Citizens, "As Descendents of Freemen and Heirs with us of the same Glorious Inheritance", September 6, 1775
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...I cannot doubt but the Assertors of Freedom and the Rights of the Constitution, are possessed of your most favorable Regards and Wishes for Success. As Descendents of Freemen and Heirs with us of the same Glorious Inheritance, we flatter ourselves that tho' divided by our Situation, we are firmly united in Sentiment; the Cause of Virtue and Liberty is Confined to no Continent or Climate, it comprehends within its capacious Limits, the Wise and good, however dispersed and seperated in Space or distance.] You need not be informed, that Violence and Rapacity of a tyrannick Ministry, have forced the Citizens of America, your Brother Colonists, into Arms..."

George Washington to Henry Lee, "all who may be found in arms in opposition", Oct. 20, 1794
Submitted by: GunShowOnTheNet.com
Website: http://GunShowOnTheNet.com/

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"...that every officer and soldier will constantly bear in mind that he comes to support the laws and that it would be peculiarly unbecoming in him to be in any way the infractor of them; that the essential principles of a free government confine the provinces of the Military to these two objects: 1st: to combat and subdue all who may be found in arms in opposition to the National will and authority; 2dly to aid and support the civil Magistrate in bringing offenders to justice. The dispensation of this justice belongs to the civil Magistrate and let it ever be our pride and our glory to leave the sacred deposit there unviolated. Convey to my fellow citizens in arms..."

David Codrea: We're the Only Ones "Willfully Depriving" Enough
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A police officer has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for pulling over Hispanic drivers and stealing their money...The 33-year-old Hilsinger pleaded guilty to four charges of willfully depriving individuals of their right against unreasonable searches and seizures."

"Misdemeanor? That's all an 'Only One' gets for multiple counts of armed robbery? Even if he didn't pull a gun, he had one during the commission of a crime, and the implication was there that a police officer must be immediately obeyed or else..."

"And selecting Hispanics? Why aren't "hate crime" statutes being invoked...?"

You MUST contact your Senators TODAY and oppose Sullivans confirmation as ATF Director
Submitted by: Idaho Ordnance
Website: http://www.id-ord.com

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... "For months I have been warning gun owners regarding Sullivan, who is currently acting Director, becoming Director of the ATF. This man is buds with Ted 'Chappaquiddick' Kennedy, a Massachusetts Federal Attorney, champions the elimination of firearms dealerships (we have lost some 80 percent since 1995), and the compilation of an illegal database of U.S. gun owners. SULLIVAN MUST NOT BE CONFIRMED AS ATF DIRECTOR." ...

"I have faxed my Senators Hatch and Bennett and I will alternate days faxing and calling these Senators until we defeat Sullivans confirmation. While I am at it, as a life member to both GOA and NRA, I am going to be contacting Wayne or whoever I can get to listen to me at the NRA and try to get them opposing Sullivan. ..."

Senators, the abuse of the ATF has gone on too long; Oppose Sullivan's confirmation!
Submitted by: Idaho Ordnance
Website: http://www.id-ord.com

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"It amazes me what gun owners tolerate, especially in regards to our expectations of the ATF. With the upcoming confirmation of Acting ATF Director Michael J. Sullivan aka Maximum Mike ..." ...

"Gun Owners of America has opposed Ted Kennedy's friend Sullivan and as a life member of GOA, I am appreciative. I am also a member of the NRA and I would encourage them to follow GOA's lead to oppose Sullivan's confirmation. NRA members please contact the NRA, as the membership tell them to oppose the confirmation of any Director that continues the destruction of our rights."

"I personally feel that how our Senators vote on Sullivan should be reflective on their GOA and NRA report cards!" ...

FL: Officer Andrea Eichhorn fired after suing injured boy's family
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"Two months ago, after hundreds of people from across the country voiced their outrage, police Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn dropped her lawsuit against the family of tiny, brain-damaged Joey Cosmillo."

"It wasn't enough to save her job."

"On Tuesday, the Casselberry Police Department fired her."

"Her suit, filed Oct. 1 and abandoned Oct. 12, brought public ridicule to the agency, according to a memo from police Chief John Pavlis. It damaged the city's image and made people question whether they, too, might get sued by officers responding to 911 calls."

"Eichhorn got what she deserved, said Richard Cosmillo, the boy's grandfather and guardian."

"If she hadn't filed suit, he said Tuesday evening, 'she wouldn't have been fired, would she?'" ...

IL: Retired cop has had FOID since 1968, but now State Police flag 'bogus' charge
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Michael Fitzpatrick retired from the Chicago Police Department eight years ago, but he still has his guns." ...

"Because he still owns the guns, it came time last month for Fitzpatrick to renew his state firearm owner's identification card, an ID that he has held ever since the law went into effect in 1968." ...

"Instead of a new FOID card, the Illinois State Police sent Fitzpatrick a letter informing him he had some explaining to do."

"The required criminal background check had turned up the fact Fitzpatrick had been arrested on a charge of malicious conversion, a lawyerly term for theft." ...

"This struck Fitzpatrick as odd, considering that the arrest was from May 1, 1956." ...

NC: State Trooper Charged With DWI, Assault on Officer
Submitted by: jac

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"A state trooper, who was once featured on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' to discuss financial matters, faces DWI and assault charges after he crashed into a pond Tuesday night."

"Authorities said Trooper Steven Ellis Bradley ... crashed his personal vehicle ... shortly before 11 p.m." ...

"Police said Bradley became combative, kicking Raleigh police Officer K.S. Lablanc in her shins. He also walked away from an investigative officer and failed to put his hands behind his back when asked." ...

"Bradley also faces other charges, including failing to stop at a stop sign, child abuse, assault on a law enforcement officer and carrying a concealed weapon." ...