Keep and Bear Arms
Home Members Login/Join About Us News/Editorials Archives Take Action Your Voice Web Services Free Email
You are 1 of 697 active visitors Saturday, December 07, 2024
EMAIL NEWS
Main Email List:
Subscribe
Unsubscribe

State Email Lists:
Click Here
SUPPORT KABA
» Join/Renew Online
» Join/Renew by Mail
» Make a Donation
» Magazine Subscriptions
» KABA Memorial Fund
» Advertise Here
» Use KABA Free Email

» JOIN/Renew NOW! «
 
SUPPORT OUR SUPPORTERS

 

YOUR VOTE COUNTS

Keep and Bear Arms - Vote In Our Polls
Do you oppose Biden's anti-gun executive orders?
Yes
No
Undecided

Current results
Earlier poll results
4782 people voted

 

SPONSORED LINKS

 
» U.S. Gun Laws
» AmeriPAC
» NoInternetTax
» Gun Show On The Net
» 2nd Amendment Show
» SEMPER FIrearms
» Colt Collectors Assoc.
» Personal Defense Solutions

 

 


Keep and Bear Arms

Search:

Archived Information

Top | Last 30 Days | Search | Add to Archives | Newsletter | Featured Item


Anti-gun Group Applauds Their Own Defeat

from Angel Shamaya

October 16, 2001

KeepAndBearArms.com -- The Violence Policy Center wasted no time in misrepresenting Tuesday's 5th circuit court ruling in the U.S. vs. Emerson case.  Their press release issued immediately upon the ruling borders on lunacy.  Below are quotes from their report, followed by facts they either missed or refuse to comment on because they refute claims made by the group.

VPC said:  "The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today applauded the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Emerson."

FACT: VPC's amicus brief to the court said there is no individual right to keep and bear arms. Meanwhile, the ruling VPC "applauds" produced the strongest "individual right" arguments ever to come from a federal circuit court. For example:

VPC attempts, consistently, to use US v Miller to "prove" that the second amendment is a collective right.

Emerson says, "Miller Does Not Support Collective Right Model" -- and backs up the statement with tremendous, irrefutable evidence to support the claim.

VPC attempts, consistently, to say the second amendment is about the National Guard. In their incorrigible press release after the Emerson ruling, they said the language of the second amendment "speaks in terms of a limited right to keep and bear arms in connection with service in a state militia."

Emerson says, "The plain meaning of the right of the people to keep arms is that it is an individual, rather than a collective, right and is not limited to keeping arms while engaged in active military service or as a member of a select militia such as the National Guard."

The VPC's perpetual lies about the second amendment were soundly defeated in court, their history-ignorant amicus brief destroyed. Their inaccurate arguments against the second amendment have been shattered beyond recognition. The Supreme Court now has a scholarly body of information to consider when the second amendment issue hits their courtroom -- all thanks to the 5th circuit judges who just ruled in U.S. vs. Emerson.

Shall we honestly take VPC's inauthentic "applauding" seriously? Does anyone really take them seriously anyway?

And there's more:

VPC said:  "...the judges rejected the argument that the Second Amendment guarantees domestic abusers an individual right to keep and bear arms..."

The judges actually said: "...the predicate order in question here is sufficient, albeit likely minimally so, to support the deprivation, while it remains in effect, of the defendant's Second Amendment rights."

There is a big difference in the two. And Dr. Emerson can still appeal. If he does appeal -- all the way to the Supreme Court -- gun owners have the most strongly worded and thoroughly presented case for the individual right to keep and bear arms we have seen from a federal ruling.  And such a hearing by SCOTUS would necessarily address the nature of the second amendment, considering the very ruling VPC "applauds."

Also noteworthy is the fact that Dr. Emerson was never even charged with domestic abuse, let alone convicted -- and every charge against him except the gun possession issue was dropped. VPC's calling Dr. Emerson a "domestic abuser" absent an accusation of and conviction for domestic abuse is libelous.

But what else would you expect from people who openly and repeatedly call for all-out bans on guns and lie repeatedly in hopes of achieving their objectives?

And perhaps the most absurd statement in VPC's "press release" involves yet another slur against gun rights advocates:

"Today the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the sweeping arguments of the gun lobby that the Second Amendment guarantees domestic abusers an individual right to possess a gun."

We have never seen any gun rights advocacy organization say that "the Second Amendment guarantees domestic abusers an individual right to possess a gun." To the contrary, even strident constitutional purists tend to agree that someone actively engaging in violent acts against others -- like known and proven domestic abusers, for example -- should be brought to full and swift justice. The contention of most liberty advocates surrounding mandatory gun possession prohibitions under restraining orders is that there needs to be a trial by jury and a conviction before constitutional rights are removed. 

And from the text of the ruling, it appears that Dr. Emerson didn't cross-examine his wife or depose anyone else in his own defense, so there is not a clear ruling that a mandatory domestic violence restraining order prohibition will stand in the next case that comes along, either. 

While a host of VPC's favorite falsehoods were soundly disproved in the 5th circuit court, gun rights advocates have a rock-solid federal ruling in clear support of the individual right of the people to keep and bear arms. So who really won in the Emerson case, VPC? Think real hard, and keep applauding your own ignorance.

If you are interested in reading more about the lies and distortions from the "Violence Policy Center," go here:  http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/VPC. They seem to tell a couple of whoppers every week or two these days, so be certain to check back to watch that archive expand. As long as VPC exists, we will have lies and distortions to address.


Related Reading

 

Printer Version

 QUOTES TO REMEMBER
It is difficult to maintain the illusion that we are interpreting a Constitution, rather than inventing one. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia, in his minority dissenting opinion in Nebraska vs. Carhart

COPYRIGHT POLICY: The posting of copyrighted articles and other content, in whole or in part, is not allowed here. We have made an effort to educate our users about this policy and we are extremely serious about this. Users who are caught violating this rule will be warned and/or banned.
If you are the owner of content that you believe has been posted on this site without your permission, please contact our webmaster by following this link. Please include with your message: (1) the particulars of the infringement, including a description of the content, (2) a link to that content here and (3) information concerning where the content in question was originally posted/published. We will address your complaint as quickly as possible. Thank you.

 
NOTICE:  The information contained in this site is not to be considered as legal advice. In no way are Keep And Bear Arms .com or any of its agents responsible for the actions of our members or site visitors. Also, because this web site is a Free Speech Zone, opinions, ideas, beliefs, suggestions, practices and concepts throughout this site may or may not represent those of Keep And Bear Arms .com. All rights reserved. Articles that are original to this site may be redistributed provided they are left intact and a link to http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com is given. Click here for Contact Information for representatives of KeepAndBearArms.com.

Thawte.com is the leading provider of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and digital certificate solutions used by enterprises, Web sites, and consumers to conduct secure communications and transactions over the Internet and private networks.

KeepAndBearArms.com, Inc. © 1999-2024, All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy