News from The Sight M1911, Volume 96

News from The Sight M1911

Volume 96, 12/7/02 – Pearl Harbor Day

9TH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS ABDUCTED BY ALIENS… JUSTICES REPLACED BY MINDLESS NEO-FASCIST CLONES OF SARAH BRADY… CONSTITUTION RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL… COURT ACTIVATES STATE MILITIAS… MICHAEL BELLESILES GIVEN NOBEL PRIZE FOR HISTORY

Well, that’s not exactly what happened, but the truth is just too unbelievable.

Those fun-loving comrades at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco have just ruled that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right of individual citizens to own firearms and only applies to the right of states to form military units. This is the same band of merry pranksters who recently ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it mentions that politically incorrect supreme being who allegedly created the heavens and the Earth. That wild and crazy master of comedy, Judge Reinhardt, cited the discredited and unemployed "historian" Michael Bellesiles, author of the fraudulent book, Arming America, as evidence that guns were rare during the writing of the Constitution. It’s reassuring to see that hizzoner knows good research when it bites him in his brief. This decision virtually assures us that the individual right to keep an bear arms is headed for a showdown at the Supreme Court.

THE TROUBLESOME SECOND AMENDMENT

One can’t be involved with gun rights for very long before confronting the notion of the militia. Why? Because it occupies the subordinate clause which forms the beginning of the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It is this terse statement which guarantees our right to own firearms. The subordinate clause, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…” is a problem for everyone. It is a problem for those who favor gun control because it implies the demand that every citizen between the ages of 17 and 45 should be in possession of a military firearm and be ready to be called up in the event of a national emergency. It is a problem for gun rights advocates because it provides an opening for the gun controllers to say that the right to own firearms is meant only for state chartered military units and not the citizenry in general.

While gun owners have unanimously heralded the recent reversal of policy by the Justice Department to affirm that the Second Amendment does in fact guarantee the individual right to own firearms apart from any relationship to militia service, it raises some interesting questions as well, some of which may have disturbing implications down the road. The framers of the Constitution drew a clear connection between the right to keep and bear arms and the militia. Were it not so, the Second Amendment would be worded differently. While the militia clause may not be limiting, it does draw a connection. Armed citizens have the capability to join together into units for self defense, to repel invasion, to put down insurrection, and, if need be, to topple corrupt governments which have become tyrannical and no longer reflect the will of the people. The Second Amendment is not about duck hunting. If the militia is removed from the constitutional equation, there is no justification for the private ownership of firearms left in the document. This is a subtle take away, but it is a take away just the same. Of what value is this problematic right if it serves no purpose? Why not just take it away all together? I think that we jettison the notion of an unorganized citizen militia at our peril because it was that idea which justified in the minds of the framers the individual right to keep and bear arms. The framers were not oblivious to the other values of personally owned firearms, such as personal and home defense, hunting and sport, but they didn’t list those.

One of the interesting ironies of the current gun control debate as it relates to the Second Amendment is that the "collective view" which holds that the Second Amendment only guarantees the right of state militias to keep and bear arms – the view expressed by gun control advocates – may be a contributing underpinning to the contemporary militia movement which flourished in the mid 1990’s. Or put another way, if we want to have guns for personal defense, we had better have a militia to justify the ownership of those guns since that is the justification listed in the Bill of Rights. The "individual right" view currently espoused by the Ashcroft Justice Department separates the right to keep and bear arms from any notion of an unorganized citizen militia. In one way, gun rights proponents, by eagerly embracing the individual right position without reflection, may be undermining the constitutional justification of the right to keep and bear arms. We do have a right to own firearms for personal defense, the guarantee of liberty, hunting, and sport, and that right is deeper and more fundamental than the 18th Century idea of militias defending the new republic. Nevertheless, we should tread carefully on this hallowed ground and think twice before we completely scuttle the ideal of the citizen militia. The Ashcroft position, even though it sounds like music to our ears, could be laying the groundwork for a gun grab later down the road.

FEDERAL COURT RULES CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court, upholding California's assault-weapons ban, decided that the Second Amendment does not guarantee individuals the right to bear arms.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,72371,00.html

WHO’S RIGHT ON SECOND?

Living, breathing decisions by Eugene Volokh

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-volohk120602.asp

SHOWDOWN LOOMING ON RIGHT TO OWN GUNS

Assault weapons ban upheld, putting court at odds with Ashcroft

A federal appeals court upheld California's ban on military-style assault weapons Thursday, ruling that individuals have no constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The ruling paves the way for the controversial issue to be addressed by the nation's highest court, which has not touched the topic since 1939.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/12/06/MN211218.DTL

JAY AMBROSE: IN DEFENSE OF U.S. CITIZENS

http://www.naplesnews.com/02/12/perspective/d781851a.htm

CANADA SEES 43,000-PCT OVERRUN ON GUN CONTROL COST

OTTAWA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Canadian taxpayers could end up paying C$860 million ($550 million) for a gun registration program that was slated to cost C$2 million, a 43,000-percent cost overrun, Canada's government watchdog charged on Tuesday.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03149909

OTTAWA ACCUSED OF HIDING TRUE COST OF GUN REGISTRY

OTTAWA - Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser says the Chrétien government hid the true cost of its controversial gun control system from Parliament and the Canadian public.

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2002/12/03/auditorgun021203

OHIO: THREAT OF VETO HANGS OVER CONCEALED CARRY BILL

Police union’s support deemed crucial to governor’s approval

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20021203&Category=NEWS24&ArtNo=112030051&Ref=AR

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1035222

OHIO: IS CONCEALED CARRY DEAD FOR THIS SESSION?

http://www.ohioccw.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=880

OHIO: DISPATCH: NOW THEY PRINT IT - "OTHER STATES WITH CARRY LAWS SEE FEW PROBLEMS"

After publishing multiple editorials spouting the typical uninformed rhetoric opposing Concealed Carry Reform, the Columbus Dispatch has finally decided to allow a story to be printed which admits to the SUCCESS of such laws in other states. http://www.ofccpac.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=157

DELAWARE: JUDGE DISMISSES WILMINGTON LAWSUIT AGAINST FIREARMS MANUFACTURERS

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-03-2002/0001851508&EDATE=

AUSTRALIA: HAND GUNS BANNED, BUY-BACK OFFERED

States and territories have agreed to new laws banning a range of semi-automatic hand guns

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/06/1038950185452.html

NEW YORK: GA-TO-CNY WEAPONS RING CHARGED; 58 GUNS AT LARGE

A well-armed team of 50 agents swept through Syracuse Wednesday morning, rounding up a ring of gun traffickers and lodging 33 charges against 14 men connected with a scheme to buy guns in Georgia and deliver them to gang members on the South Side.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1039081754131890.xml

ALASKA: KIDS LEARN THE ART OF HUNTING, SURVIVAL

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/120602/loc_safety.shtml

ARIZONA: BORDER TREK DELIVERED SIMCOX TO HIS CAUSE

TOMBSTONE - The roles of crusading newspaper publisher and militia leader aren't the first ones Chris Simcox has played in this Wild West town.

http://www.azstarnet.com/border/21206TOMBSTONEMILITIA.html

ILLINOIS: ADULTS WITH GUNS BANNED FROM SCHOOL

School Board members Tuesday unanimously supported a new policy prohibiting adults from carrying weapons on school grounds.

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2002/12/04/news/lake_county/691536c62e0a7c6486256c85001b0adc.txt

CALIFORNIA: COUNTY OKS BAN ON GUNS

Law would eliminate gun shows at Expo Center; NRA threatens court action

http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87%7E11268%7E1028960,00.html