Gun Seizures Halted in New Orleans

This just in from the Second Amendment Foundation:

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS NEW ORLEANS GUN SEIZURES
BELLEVUE, WA

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisianathis afternoon issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA), bringing an end to firearm seizures from citizens living in and around New Orleans.

District Judge Jay Zaney issued the restraining order against all parties named in a lawsuit filed Thursday by SAF and NRA. Defendants in the lawsuit include New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Edwin Compass III.

“This is a great victory, not just for the NRA and SAF, but primarily for law-abiding gun owners everywhere,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are proud to have joined forces with the NRA to put an end to what has amounted to a warrantless gun grab by authorities in New Orleans and surrounding jurisdictions.

“Over the past three weeks,” he continued, “residents who had lost virtually everything in the devastation following Hurricane Katrina had also essentially been stripped of something even more precious, their civil rights, and their right of self-defense, because of these gun seizures.

“SAF and NRA had no alternative but to take action,” Gottlieb added. “If these gun confiscations had been allowed to continue without challenge, it would have set a dangerous precedent that would have encouraged authorities in other jurisdictions to believe they also could suspend the civil rights of citizens in the event of some other emergency.

“What must happen now, and quickly,” said Gottlieb, “is for authorities in the New Orleans area to explain how they will return all of those firearms to their rightful owners, and do it promptly. What this ruling affirms is that even in the face of great natural disasters, governments cannot arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights. Thanks to some great teamwork between SAF and the NRA, this sort of thing will hopefully never happen again.”

Terri Schindler-Schiavo

I know a lot is going on, and that makes it easy to forget about important events from the recent past.

Here are a couple of links worth reading from the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation website.

Read this, and this.

H.R. 800 - Firearms Manufacturers Protection bill

H.R. 800 is an attempt to protect the firearms industry from frivolous lawsuits which are concocted by the anti-gun left specifically to bankrupt the industry. This is a good bill, and I encourage everyone to call their reps and stress the importance of passing the House version of this bill, and NOT the Senate Version (S. 397), which has anti-gun amendments put in there by none other than Wisconsin's Senator Kohl.

It is important to note that groups such as the Brady Campaign post outright lies on their sites about this legislation. Here is an example of a Brady Campaign lie meant to deceive the public (see link above):

"Despite the efforts of our Senate allies, a majority in the United States Senate, eager to accommodate the wishes of NRA and gun corporation lobbyists, voted recently to strip the legal rights of victims of gun violence and give sweeping legal immunity to reckless and unsavory gun dealers"

Here's an excerpt from H.R. 800, proving that the legislation does not give "sweeping legal immunity...":

"The term qualified civil liability action...shall not include...an action in which a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing of the product..."

There are many more cases spelled out in the bill that allow the industry to be sued. All you have to do is read the bill and you will realize that it is not giving the industry immunity from breaking the law (eg. knowingly selling firearms to criminals), liability stemming from defective products, or other similar instances.

The Senate version of this bill has a provision to make the purchase of a gun lock mandatory when purchasing a handgun. What's the problem with this? Two things:

1. It is basically a "tax" on purchasers of handguns, but more importantly,
2. If it passes, I predict the next bill will make it a felony to not use the gun lock.

And where does this leave the people who need a handgun at their ready disposal to protect their home and family? Fumbling for a key while the burglar has his/her way....

CALL YOUR REPS TODAY and urge them to pass the House bill, H.R. 800, not the Senate version.

The Second Amendment Explained

Have you ever had a hard time debating someone who believed the Second Amendment only protected a State's right, or collective right (militia or army) to keep and bear arms ? I have, mostly because I can't remember enough facts to clearly explain the two clauses "A well regulated militia..." and "...the right of the people...", even though I know that in fact it does protect an individual right.

If you need more ammo (no pun intended) for your debates, read this article by Nelson Lund, J.D., Ph.D. of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy.

The article is very well written as well as easy to understand, even for legal-language flunkies like me (legal jargon is kept to a minimum!).

Please take the time to read it, and send it along to a friend!