Supremes Agree To Hear Heller: ...The court said yesterday it will limit its ruling to one question: whether D.C. laws "violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes." ...This merits praise because the court had other options. For example, the city's suggestion read, "Whether the Second Amendment forbids the District of Columbia from banning private possession of handguns while allowing possession of rifles and shotguns." Such a formulation sidesteps the core controversy - while D.C. does allow "possession of rifles and shotguns," its storage laws make these weapons useless for self-defense. http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071121/METRO/111210066/1001&template=nextpage http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071121/EDITORIAL/111210009/1013 http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T1QUNO0&show_article=1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000893.html?hpid=topnews http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119558157276599395-jS1yJPy9j5NINSL_wv_pYxc6wD0_20071220.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/us/21scotus.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-scotus21nov21,1,4804010.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjNlMzIwNjgyMjRiZmZjYWQ4MTNjNGEwYzQxYTZhZjg= http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,228213.shtml http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-20-2007/0004709509&EDATE= http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=336 http://bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=945 --- Justice Kennedy Likely To Be Swing Vote: As a general rule, Justice Kennedy tends to construe the Bill of Rights so its protections apply broadly but often yield to competing interests. If the question is whether a constitutional protection applies in an abstract sense to a new set of facts, Justice Kennedy is often inclined to answer that question in the affirmative. On the other hand, Kennedy often finds that the right gives way to competing government interests such as law enforcement needs, security, finality, etc. (These are obviously enormous oversimplifications, but I think it's a pretty good first cut.) What does that mean for the Second Amendment case? Well, I looked into my SCOTUS 330CLe Model Crystal Ball (patent pending, with optional GPS system), and it's predicting that Justice Kennedy will conclude that the Second Amendment does in fact create an individual right. It also tells me that Kennedy will endorse a relatively deferential standard of review that will end up allowing a great deal of gun regulation. http://volokh.com/posts/1195588501.shtml --- Heller Will Actually Be 96th Supreme Court Gun Case: ...The High Court has been ruling on guns and gun rights since 1820, with 31 cases addressing the subject before Miller and 63 cases afterwards until this one. The widely quoted Miller case concerned two bootleggers and a sawed-off shotgun. Miller was murdered before his case could be retried as directed by the Supreme Court, leaving that short, controversial decision to be interpreted in many ways...The new case now granted review, District of Columbia v. Heller, is somewhat different, since the parties are arguing specifically over the Second Amendment itself, and not the firearms they choose to bear or how they put them to use...Discussions of the first 92 cases are compiled in Supreme Court Gun Cases, published by Bloomfield Press, which for the first time dispelled the notion that the High Court had been quiet about the subject of guns. The Court's decisions use some form of the word "gun" (rifle, shotgun, handgun, firearm, etc.) more than 2,900 times. Fourteen of the cases deal specifically with using guns in personal self defense. http://www.gunlaws.com/supreme.htm Another View: Among legal scholars, it is undisputed that the Supreme Court has said almost nothing about the Second Amendment. This article suggests that the Court has not been so silent as the conventional wisdom suggests. While the meaning of the Supreme Court's leading Second Amendment case, the 1939 United States v. Miller decision remains hotly disputed, the dispute about whether the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right can be pretty well settled by looking at the thirty-five other Supreme Court cases which quote, cite, or discuss the Second Amendment. These cases suggest that the Justices of the Supreme Court do now and usually have regarded the Second Amendment "right of the people to keep and bear arms" as an individual right, rather than as a right of state governments. http://davekopel.org/2A/LawRev/35FinalPartOne.htm --- Parker Ignored (For Now): ...The city of Washington's appeal (District of Columbia v. Heller, 07-290) seeking to revive its flat ban on private possession of handguns is expected to be heard in March - slightly more than a year after the D.C. Circuit Court ruled that the Second Amendment right is a personal one, at least to have a gun for self-defense in one's own home. (The Court took no action on Tuesday on a conditional cross-petition, Parker, et al., v. District of Columbia, 07-335, an appeal by five District residents seeking to join in the case. The absence of any action may mean that the Court has decided not to hear that case. If that is so, it will be indicated in an order next Monday. The Court also may simply be holding the case until it decides the Heller case.) http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/uncategorized/court-agrees-to-rule-on-gun-case/ --- Giuliani Comments: Rudy Giuliani was the first campaign to react to the Supreme Court's decision today to hear the challenge to D.C.'s handgun ban. The former New York mayor said the justices should side with the lower court ruling that struck down part of the D.C. law. "I strongly believe that Judge Silberman's decision deserves to be upheld by the Supreme Court. The Parker decision is an excellent example of a judge looking to find the meaning of the words in the Constitution, not what he would like them to mean," Giuliani said. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out for Giuliani, who as mayor frequently found himself joining with the gun control advocates he now is opposing. http://video1.washingtontimes.com/dinan/2007/11/giulianis_gun_control_doover_r.html --- Polls On The DC Gun Ban: These are just the ones that have come to my attention. Scroll down the pages to find the polls. Note the wording - you will probably want to vote "yes," for the Supreme Court to overturn the DC gun ban. http://www.wjla.com/ http://www.nbc4.com/index.html --- Pennsylvania Governor Rebuffed On New Infringements: On Tuesday Governor Ed Rendell made a rare appearance before the House Judiciary Committee pushing for tougher gun laws, but despite his efforts the committee rejected the measures. The first measure would limit most handgun purchases to one per month. The second measure that was voted down would have allowed local government to create their own gun control laws...Legislators tabled a third bill that would require owners to promptly report lost or stolen guns. http://www.whptv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a3a02bb0-415b-461d-87b0-878042c0818c http://www.philly.com/inquirer/home_top_stories/20071121_Rendell_cant_sway_panel_on_gun_bills.html http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2018114020071120 http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?dept_id=455154&newsid=19044876 --- Campus CCW Drive Still In News: Mike Guzman and thousands of other students say the best way to prevent campus bloodshed is more guns. Guzman, an economics major at Texas State University-San Marcos, is among 8,000 students nationwide who have joined the nonpartisan Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, arguing that students and faculty already licensed to carry concealed weapons should be allowed to pack heat along with their textbooks. http://www.newsmax.com/us/guns_on_campus/2007/11/21/51116.html --- Is ACLU Defending Second Or Fourth Amendment?: Civil liberties activists fanned out through Dorchester and Roxbury yesterday, warning people that a police proposal to ask residents to let their houses be searched for guns could violate constitutional rights...As the American Civil Liberties Union passed out fliers yesterday decrying the "Safe Homes" initiative, police prepared to launch a campaign to reassure residents about the program. In the coming weeks, they plan to pass out brochures explaining the proposal and to hold community meetings to persuade residents that the program is a well-intentioned attempt to remove guns from the street. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/21/police_activists_battle_over_city_antigun_effort/ --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: In a case the Nassau County district attorney called "the most egregious betrayal of the badge imaginable," a former Queens police officer has been arrested for selling guns from his precinct's evidence room on the streets of Long Island. Hubertus Vannes, 30, of Roslyn Heights, was arrested Tuesday, shortly after two men accused of working with him were also picked up by law enforcement officials. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liguns1121,0,7285034.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines --- Risky Business: A Genesee County Sheriff's paramedic ordered an armed robbery suspect to drop his gun, shot him several times when he refused - and then proceeded to save the suspect's life. "Our deputy did what he was trained to do, protect the public and save lives," said Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said about the wounding early Monday of a Flint man suspected of robbing a store-gas station in Grand Blanc Township. The suspect then led police on a chase that came to a violent end in a subdivision near Clarkston in Oakland County. (Many years ago the NYPD decided that an officer who shoots a suspect should not be the one to approach him when he goes down. This was based on the officer's emotional involvement being a potential deterrent to objective observation and reaction if the suspect became active again. This lesson holds even greater value for the private citizen who is not likely to have others covering if he approaches to render aid to an assailant he has shot.) http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2007/11/paramedic_shoots_then_saves_ro.html --- From AzCDL: Hopefully, you are well aware that the Supreme Court of the United States announced on November 20th, that it has agreed to hear District of Columbia v. Heller (formerly Parker v. District of Columbia): http://www.supremecourtus.gov/orders/courtorders/112007pzr.pdf You can find a copy of the "Parker" Appellate Court decision at the AzCDL website's Educational page: http://www.azcdl.org/html/educational.html The Heller case involves the constitutionality of the District of Columbia's ban on functional firearms. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled the ban was unconstitutional. Both sides appealed to the Supreme Court. For a case to be accepted by the Supreme Court, four justices must vote to hear the case. With a court split 4-4 along ideological lines, with one swing vote (Justice Kennedy), it's a coin toss on who voted to hear the case and it's going to be a nail-biter until the decision is handed down. Since the Heller decision will likely be mid-2008 or later, it will probably be a hot issue for the 2008 Presidential and Congressional races. Your vote in the upcoming primaries and general election may be the most important votes of your life. For further information and opinions on the Heller/Parker case, here are some recommended links: CATO Institute: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=8717 Dave Kopel: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_11_18-2007_11_24.shtml#1195586476 "Supreme Court Gun Cases": http://www.gunlaws.com/supreme.htm While we await the Heller decision, AzCDL will continue our fight to protect your Right to Keep and Bear Arms under Article 2, Section 26 of the Arizona Constitution: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/const/2/26.htm The next legislative session starts in January 2008. We are meeting with Legislators on pro-rights proposals we have drafted. We expect a number of them to be introduced as bills in the upcoming session and are anticipating another successful year. But we can only be successful WITH YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. Don't let the Heller case distract you. Keep focused on restoring, preserving and protecting you rights here in Arizona. These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2007 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .