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Latest Legal News: The New Face of the Second Amendment
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When the Supreme Court decides a seminal case, the name of the lead plaintiff becomes part of our language, our national history: Think "Miranda" or "Brown." Well, a landmark gun rights case with four plaintiffs is pending: McDonald v. City of Chicago. When Otis McDonald, the only African-American of the four, was picked to be lead plaintiff, he joked, "Is it just because I'm the only black?"
Though the lawyer's answer isn't on record, it was likely yes. The key issue in the case is whether the Second Amendment applies to the individual states; if it does, it's because of the 14th Amendment, passed after the Civil War to prevent states from infringing the rights of the newly freed slaves. |
Second Amendment March needs your support
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Mark A. Taff
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We need to raise $30,000 in 30 days. Many of the vendors we have hired need pre-payment and we need to raise funds to help cover these costs. If you believe in the Second Amendment then we need your help now. Help us to create history on April 19th, 2010 by donating to the March. Any amount is welcome, but if 600 people donate just $50.00 each we would reach our 30 day goal. Just 600 of the millions of gun owners in America.
Rest assured that every dollar goes to actual expenses and none of our volunteers or staff receive payment for their time and service. Unlike other organizations where you don't know how your dollars are used, with the Second Amendment March you know exactly what your donation is helping to do. |
IL: Why would Illinois gun owners vote for gungrabber Mark Kirk?
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Two correspondences illustrate the sorry state of affairs Illinois gun owners will face in tomorrow's primary election. First, there was a Facebook invitation inviting me to become a "fan" of Mark Kirk. My social networking friend is a good guy, a Second Amendment supporter--he just didn't know that Kirk is a gungrabber, the author of a federal semi-auto ban, and as committed an enemy of the right to keep and bear arms as they come.
Then there was this comment, just posted under my "Are there any true 'pro-gun' candidates in the Illinois Senate race?" column: |
CA: Group Wants to Carry Guns in Businesses
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A group of Bay Area gun owners are causing quite the stir for slinging their Second Amendment rights at their neighborhood Starbucks.
Members of the group "Bay Area Open Carry" have begun meeting at the popular coffee chain after being told they could no longer do so at two other chains -- California Pizza Kitchen and Peet's Coffee because -- as one member told San Francisco station KGO-TV -- they're uncomfortable with the idea.
While they understand the public's concern, they don't plan on stopping. |
AK: Alaska gun measure sends message to feds
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Alaska lawmakers are fighting federal gun regulations with what they call the Alaska Firearms Freedom Act.
The measure seeks to assert state's rights over federal regulations regarding guns, accessories and ammunition made and distributed in Alaska. It passed the House last year, and its resurfacing comes amid a growing fight with the federal government over what the state sees as undue interference on issues ranging from land access to Endangered Species Act protections.
The bill's primary sponsor, Republican Rep. Mike Kelly of Fairbanks, says it sends a message that Alaska is serious about Second Amendment rights. |
MA: Regular folk must defend themselves
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Although the Rev. Dr. Kent Moorehead makes a compelling case against firearms — "Without guns, no mass murders," in a recent My View — I strongly disagree with his piece.
The Second Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to ensure that political figures, with all the power we give them after an election, cannot declare themselves king and declare martial law without due process and good reason. "A well-regulated militia" is not the National Guard or any uniform military in the employment of our government. It is people like us.
Furthermore, I believe I reserve the right to defend my family, myself and my property against all those who would do harm to any of those. I am a spiritual man, a law-abiding citizen and a veteran. |
CO: Gun owners threaten lawsuit if CSU presses ahead with campus weapon ban
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Gun activists on Monday called on CSU’s Board of Governors to back down from a proposal to ban from campus all weapons, including concealed handguns.
At a press conference on the Oval at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, members of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners said state law prohibits CSU from banning legally carried concealed weapons from campus.
The group has already threatened a lawsuit, and has helped students at the University of Colorado-Boulder sue over a similar ban.
RMGO about eight years ago persuaded CSU to drop a similar plan after holding a similar press conference.
“If the Board of Governors insists on a fight, we will bring it,” said RMGO attorney Terry Ryan. |
The NRA elbows its way into the McDonald Case
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One wonders if NRA members should be proud of their organization’s apparent newfound fiduciary conservatism. The so-called “premier” gun rights organization has now managed to finagle its way into the spotlight after someone else’s sweat and money rented the hall, built the stage, and set up the sound system.
NRA lawyers are now second guessing pro-gun lawyer Alan Gura’s expertise. And this, after Gura masterminded and navigated the vitally crucial landmark Heller case to a victorious decision in favor of the Second Amendment. |
FL: Police: Shootings justifiable self-defense
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A 26-year-old Cocoa man who used a shotgun to protect himself against burglars climbing a fence to get into his backyard, acted within his rights when he shot four masked teen-agers, police said.
Richard Evans of 1003 Montclair Road repeatedly shouting at the teens to stay off his property, but they ignored him, police said. Investigators determined the man believed he was protecting himself and his family against burglars possibly armed with guns.
Evans was also hurt after his gun fired accidentally, striking him in the back. |
DE: For some, scars linger after acts of self-defense
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Both have since had to struggle with the knowledge that in protecting themselves they inflicted pain -- even death -- on someone else.
And both have been left to wonder what long-term toll their acts of self-defense will take on them.
"These things don't just go away for people," said Dr. Carol A. Tavani, executive director of Christiana Psychiatric Services. "People have flashbacks and nightmares about these things."
Their emotional reactions also can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, which results in ongoing anxiety after a trauma such as a shooting. |
NC: Case closed in Columbus County shooting
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Buffkin's brother-in-law was arrested after the shooting. However, the District Attorney's office reviewed the cases from the Tabor City Police Department and the SBI. The state determined this week that it cannot prove "beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooter was not acting in self-defense."
The D.A. says the shooter and his father claimed Buffkin pulled a gun and aimed it at the shooter and the shooter acted in self-defense. Police did find a .25 caliber handgun near Buffkin's body.
No one else could be found that actually saw the incident take place in its entirety. |
UT: Educate: Firearms Freedom Act Talking Points
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Hats off to Bryce Shonka for creating a beautiful, articulate tri-fold to help us educate people on the Firearms Freedom Act. In Utah this is a big help for gaining citizen support for Sen. Margaret Dayton’s (R- Orem, Senate District 15) SB-11; Utah State-Made Firearms Protection legislation.
The link to the tri-fold is; Firearms Freedom Act tri-fold
We must help educate people on the abuse and usurpation 2nd Amendment violations have had for decades. It is time states take back responsibility for the protection of life, liberty, and property at within our sovereign borders. Thank you again Bryce!! |
UK: Watford man bought stun gun for protection in South Oxhey
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A 23-year-old Watford man so feared moving to South Oxhey he bought a stun gun to protect himself and his family.
Lloyd Franklin purchased the prohibited weapon, disguised as a mobile phone, on the internet from America.
However, curious customs officers intercepted the package marked with the American spelling of 'self defense' addressed to Franklin in Hagden Lane, Watford, and he was arrested.
Franklin pleaded guilty to purchasing or acquiring a prohibited weapon at the magistrates' court and sentence was committed to the crown court because of the seriousness of the offence. |
DE: NRA prepared to take legal action for Delaware public housing residents 'defenseless by decree'
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Thousands of Delaware’s most vulnerable residents, forced by their socio-economic status to live in some of the state’s most dangerous neighborhoods, are prohibited from possessing the means to defend themselves from the drug dealers and thugs who infest their communities.
A five-month investigation by the Caesar Rodney Institute has revealed that all four of the state’s public housing authorities ban their residents from owning firearms – despite clear protections in the Delaware Constitution, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court decisions and recent rulings by lower courts that have found similar bans to be unconstitutional. |
Mexico: The so-called ‘War on Drugs’ a complete failure
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The authors even challenge the repeated assumption that most guns and weapons come from the US and Obama will focus on that fact. They instead point to a large black traffic market located in Paraguay-Brazil- Argentina and to the fact the US has been clear in its position on the subject.
“The US is not prioritizing the stop of gun traffic across the border” Castañeda explained, “President Obama already made it clear he is not changing the second amendment. The US government has only 550 Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents in the border, while having 25 thousand Border Patrol agents in the same region, what are their focus and priorities? It’s quite clear by their resources allocation.” |
NJ: Second Amendment March Bus Trip Sponsored by New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense
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This coming April 19th, the New Jersey Coalition for Self Defense will be running a bus trip to bring patriots from across the state to the Second Amendment March in Washington DC.
The mission of the Second Amendment March is to petition our elected officials against establishing anti-gun legislation, regulations or other encroachments in the form of treaties; and to remind America that the Second Amendment is necessary to maintain our right to self defense.
It is the one right that protects all others. |
NC: District attorney weighs new trial for Moore
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Joshua “Buddy” Moore was at first elated and then disheartened when he learned the N.C. Supreme Court had ruled in his favor last week. The Snow Hill farmer and his wife are not looking forward to a new trial, his attorneys said Monday.
Moore, 67, was convicted in 2007 of voluntary manslaughter after shooting and killing 16-year-old Emmanuel Linwood Harris as the Rocky Mount teen attempted to rob Moore and his wife.
The N.C. Supreme Court handed down an opinion Friday remanding the case back to Edgecombe County. The justices ruled without dissent the trial court erred when N.C. Superior Court Judge Frank Brown refused to instruct jurors on state law regarding the lawful defense of a family member. |
WA: An alternative to protect yourself is creating buzz
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You may already have it sitting in a cabinet at home and one day it could help protect you. We're talking about wasp spray.
When most people think of wasp or hornet spray they think of defending their homes against those pesky nests. At Ranch & Home in Kennewick, managers tell us it's flying off the shelves for a different reason, self defense.
The fact that wasp and hornet spray runs around $5 and can reach up to 20 or 30 feet is what managers say appeals to people wanting a cheap and easy house hold weapon to protect themselves. |
MA: Sensible gun reform
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A House bill to reform and simplify Massachusetts’ firearm licensing laws is a welcome step toward protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens, preventing dangerous persons from obtaining weapons, and clarifying the ambiguous language that led to the death of an 8-year-old boy at a Westfield gun show in 2008.
House Bill 2259, presented by state Rep. George N. Peterson Jr., R-Grafton, received a favorable hearing on Beacon Hill last week. The bill enjoys bipartisan support, including that of Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, chairman of the Senate’s Public Safety Committee. |
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