GOA Hits The Airwaves On Heller Decision

 

GOA Hits The Airwaves On Heller Decision
— Now looks forward to challenging other gun control laws around the country

Gun Owners of America

Friday, June 27, 2008

Yesterday was a historic day for the gun rights movement.

For starters, Gun Owners of America is pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court, in the DC v. Heller opinion, struck down the handgun ban and trigger lock requirement in the nation’s capital.

As a result, GOA experts have spent the last two days using radio, TV and print media to explain the Court’s decision and its impact upon the future of the gun debate in America.

GOA’s amicus brief urged the Court not to use the Heller case as a springboard to resolve the constitutionality of all of the nation’s firearms laws. In fact, the GOA brief was the only one making the request not to rule on automatic weapons and other issues, upholding judicial restraint. GOA is pleased that the judges heeded our admonition to limit the Court’s holding to the case before it.

In so doing, the Court’s decision — in dissenting Justice Breyers words — “threatens to throw into doubt the constitutionality of gun laws throughout the United States.”

Notable gun banner, Dianne Feinstein, was equally upset, saying she was “profoundly disappointed” in the Court decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court also followed GOA’s urging and refused to do any balancing of governmental powers and individual liberties — it just ruled the ban was prohibited by the text of the Second Amendment, saying that its language elevates, above all other interests, the “right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”

However, the Court stated its opinion should “not be taken to cast doubt” on at least some prohibited persons’ restrictions, gun free school zones bans and dealer licensing requirements. This dicta implies that, in the future, courts might go further than the Constitution permits in upholding some gun restrictions.

Nevertheless, the Court’s opinion directly conflicts with what anti-rights advocates — like those in the Brady Campaign — have been saying for years. So GOA welcomes the opportunity to continue our fight for the people’s right to keep and bear arms.

GOA is already preparing to wage constitutional challenges to a range of laws — federal, state and local — that violate the Second Amendment principles endorsed by the Court in yesterday’s majority opinion.

To contribute to these efforts, you can go to http://www.gunowners.com/dogfund.htm and make a tax deductible contribution to the Defend Our Guns (DOG) Fund. Contributing to this DOG Fund will allow our committed and courageous legal team to make Justice Breyer’s fears a reality.

Gun Owners Foundation wants to lay the groundwork for the next battle in the Second Amendment war between those of us who love liberty and those who would allow the government to disarm us as the first step to our own enslavement.

You contribution to the DOG Fund is tax deductible, and it will go a long way towards helping us preserve our Second Amendment rights — not only for ourselves, but for our children as well.