GOA Files Blockbuster Brief Before The U.S. Supreme Court!– Pratt hits the airwaves, selling the pro-gun position in the courtof public opinion Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408http://www.gunowners.org Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Gun Owners of America filed its brief yesterday before the U.S.Supreme Court in defense of Dick Anthony Heller, who was denied theright to own a gun in the nation’s capital as a result of thedraconian gun ban which exists there. In this hard-hitting brief, GOA takes aim at the weak arguments putforth by both the DC government and the Bush Administration. Butmore than that, GOA examines the favorable text and context of theSecond Amendment in great detail, while also documenting the pro-gunhistory that formed the backdrop of its inclusion into the Bill ofRights. The GOA brief even presents the greatest reason for the right to keepand bear arms, stating that “the Second Amendment right is to beexercised as a last resort to guard against tyranny.” GOA’s Executive Director, Larry Pratt, has hit the airwaves recently,appearing on many talk shows and in newspapers to differentiate theGOA approach from the sullied road the President has taken. Pratt,along with other GOA spokesmen, has argued that the “bomb” whichBush’s Solicitor General dropped last month (when he submitted hisbrief) would destroy the Second Amendment.
After all, the Bush administration’s approach is that any and allguns can be controlled or banned if a federal court finds that to be”reasonable.” The GOA approach differs from many of the briefs that are beingsubmitted to the high Court. For example, one brief which is beingsubmitted by several legislators highlights Congress’ position on theSecond Amendment over the years. This can be a useful approach, tobe sure. But while the congressional brief concedes that the DC Council mayhave gone too far, it also says it’s appropriate for the legislativebranch to pass restrictions upon our Second Amendment rights — astance which is, in principle, not too different from the one theU.S. Solicitor General has filed. That’s where the GOA brief draws a “bright line” in the sand byrepeating the amendment’s wording “shall not be infringed” over andover again. For example, our brief states: [T]he argument that “the right of the people” is subject to reasonable regulation and restriction tramples on the very words of the Second Amendment, reading the phrase — “shall not be infringed” — as if it read “shall be subject only to reasonable regulation to achieve public safety.” The GOA brief can be read online athttp://www.gunowners.org/fs0802.pdf on the GOA website. Severalpro-gun groups joined GOA, including Gun Owners Foundation, GunOwners of California, Maryland Shall Issue, Inc., Virginia CitizensDefense League, among others.
You will remember that last month, GOA alerted you to Rep. VirgilGoode’s efforts to get President Bush to pull his brief before theCourt. Thanks to your efforts, Rep. Goode has almost 50congressional signatories on his letter. While the letter hasalready been sent to the President, Goode continues to solicit evenmore signatories and is sending those names to Bush as well. (GOAwill provide you further updates and a list of the congressman whohave cosigned the letter in an upcoming alert.) Gun Owners of America is committing a significant portion of ouravailable resources as we are fighting this battle in the courts, inthe Congress and in the media. If you would like to help do your part in covering the tremendouscosts associated with this effort, please go tohttp://www.gunowners.com/heller.htm to make a tax-deductiblecontribution. Thank you so much.
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