Posted on 01/15/2004 5:26:10 AM PST by chance33_98
Federal Court Upholds D.C. Hand Gun Ban
By MARTY NILAND Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge on Wednesday upheld the District of Columbia's gun control law that prohibits ownership of handguns, rejecting a legal challenge by a group of citizens backed by the National Rifle Association.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton dismissed the lawsuit in which the plaintiffs argued that the 28-year-old law violated their Second Amendment right to own guns. The D.C. law prohibits ownership or possession of handguns and requires that others, such as shotguns, be kept unloaded, disassembled or equipped with trigger locks.
Walton ruled that the Second Amendment is not a broad-based right of gun ownership.
"The Second Amendment does not confer an individual a right to possess firearms. Rather, the Amendment's objective is to ensure the vitality of state militias," Walton wrote.
He went on to say that the amendment was designed to protect the citizens against a potentially oppressive federal government.
He also ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply to the district because it was intended to protect state citizens, and the district is not a state.
A gun control advocate welcomed the ruling.
"It's a big victory for those who overwhelmingly believe that we need fewer guns on our streets, not more," said Matt Nosanchuk, a spokesman for the Violence Policy Center.
Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman, said the group's lawyers had not seen the ruling on Wednesday night but noted that other courts have taken the opposite opinion.
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On the Net:
National Rifle Association: http://www.nra.org
Violence Policy Center: http://www.vpc.org
I don't think either you or they can/could know that "before the fact".
"I discontinued my membership to the NRA several years because of their propensity to negotiate and legislate State and Federal "gun privleges" as opposed to litigation on hard core consitutional principles."
Well, the governing board of the NRA "is" elected by the membership, and they are the ones who set policy. Unfortunately, the folks who wanted to litigate based on "hard core constitutional principles" (which includes me) didn't succeed in electing a majority of board members--so we have no one to blame but ourselves. Who else is there on the pro-RKBA side which remotely approaches the "coult" that the NRA has?? Certainly GOA and/or JPFO don't.
And just what is to protect the citizens when both the state and federal governments become oppressive?
This judge is an effing moron. To rule that the Constitution doesn't apply to DC because it isn't a state is idiotic. He had to reach waaaayyyy up his @$$ to come up with this one.
hmmm....further study. The feds have a couple different definitions of 'state', the better to TAX us with. Not to mention, as far as the feds are concerned, the States don't exist anymore, ever since Nixon chopped us up into ten regions, also unconstitutional. [Regionalism, the Quiet Revolution].
Like, say, the Washington Post. Yep, Big John Ashcroft can shut down their presses any time it's convenient and lock up anybody who complains... [Hey...it works for Putin!]
Blast from the past:
Australia Authorizes Army To Shoot Civilians. American Handgunner, Jan, 2001, by Cameron Hopkins
Having disarmed its citizens of lawfully owned firearms, the government of Australia has now passed the Defense Legislation Amendment Bill 2000 (Aid To Civilian Authorities) which gives the Australian army the authority to use "reasonable and necessary force" to suppress civilian unrest. The definition of "reasonable and necessary force," it goes without saying, is left up to the government.
The bill also grants the army authority to enter buildings without a warrant, cordon off areas, erect barricades and stop vehicles to search them without a warrant. [sound familiar?] The bill specifically authorizes the army to use lethal force against civilians when there are "reasonable grounds," a condition that the government decides.
Prime Minister John Howard dismisses critics of the bill as overreacting. He alleges that the purpose of the bill is to combat terrorism and that the "shoot to kill" authorization is not intended for use during peaceful civil demonstrations. Green Party and Democrat politicians are opposed to the new law.
It has now been three years since Australia outlawed semiauto shotguns and rifles. Since that time, over 650,000 firearms banned by the government have been rounded up and destroyed. But is Australia any safer? Homicides have increased 3.2 percent, assaults have jumped 8.6 percent and burglaries have skyrockted 44 percent.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
"Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American...The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust God it will ever remain, the the hands of the people." Tenche Coxe, 1788.
"In FREE governments the rulers are the servants, and the people their superiors and sovereigns." Benjamin Franklin.
The preamble to the Bill of Rights says we are the sovereigns. It must be a prerequisite for some of these judges to leave their brains at the courthouse door. Or maybe they're being blackmailed. I read at the givemeliberty.org site, that the IRS keeps a file on judges [I would have to double-check, but I THINK it was all federal judges]. The IRS and the Federal Reserve, of course, are not federal, but private corporations, largely owned by foreign interests. Wonder why they want our guns. Wonder why OUR government plays along. Sounds a little like treason to me.
Good way to start the new year: http://www.jail4judges.org
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