Senator: No city has power to take right to bear arms away

[clinotus]

As a gun owner and proud member of the NRA, it concerns me very deeply whenever I hear that our Constitutionally-provided Second Amendment rights may be in jeopardy.

Last year, our Second Amendment rights were challenged by the Supreme Court in the DC vs. Heller case. I joined with the NRA and a bipartisan group of Congressional colleagues to argue that the Washington, D.C., gun ban was unconstitutional. We won -- but we never should have had to have a court case on the Second Amendment, the language and intent of which could not be any clearer.

And now, our Second Amendment rights are again under assault, as the Supreme Court is considering whether the residents of Chicago -- all 2.8 million of them -- can be barred from owning and possessing firearms within the city limits. If the city of Chicago can tell its residents that they can't own a firearm, what is to stop any city or town in the United States from doing the same? I believe that it is flat-out wrong for a city or town to stop its residents from owning a gun they purchased with their hard-earned money, whether it's for protecting themselves, for hunting, for target shooting or for investment purposes. A Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities would not only jeopardize our individual rights, but it also could open the door to major denials of other Constitutionally-given freedoms in the future.

That's why I've taken the important first step of signing on to an amicus brief encouraging the Supreme Court to overturn the Chicago gun ban. Last year, I signed onto a similar brief -- and I was joined by 55 U.S. senators and 250 U.S. representatives -- urging the Supreme Court to uphold our rights. I'm also encouraging all of my colleagues to sign on as well. Our fundamental rights are far too important to be put at stake.

It's clear that this ban is a serious infringement of a Constitutional right that every American has been guaranteed by the founding fathers. This case is going to be an important decision with far-reaching effects, and I plan on doing whatever I can to continue the fight to prevent government intrusion into our personal freedoms.

The Supreme Court must recognize that no city or town has the power to take our right to keep and bear arms away.

Zack Space is a U.S. congressman.

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Go BUCKS!!!

(Go dems?????)

 

[terraformer]

Is he a Dem?

 

[RI_John]

Is he a Dem?

Indeed. One of the gun-friendly blue-dog Dems.

 

[M1911]

He's a representative, not a senator.

 

[Fixxah]

Surely he will be stripped of any comittee position by the powers that be if he had one.

 

[vicpinto]

Still a dem. They'll turn on you faster than you can blink an eye.

 

[mikem317]

Still a dem. They'll turn on you faster than you can blink an eye.

This isn't just a Democrat problem. Look at all the so called "Republicans" who think they're republicans. But they're not.

See: Olympia Snowe, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mitt Romney, Paul Celluci, John McCain

At any rate, there are pro-gun folks across the political spectrum. We need to unite as opposed to divide. In other words, don't look a gift horse in the mouth!

 

[Jose]

Guys, at the state level, there are PLENTY of democrats that are true blue, NRA A rated guys.

Here in Ohio, some of our most ardent gun rights supporters have been rural democrat legislators. Our governor Ted Strickland (D) is A rated by the NRA-ILA. So is our former Attorney General Marc Dann.

OTOH, our past governor Bob Taft (R) was a bungling a**h*** who did not see a pro-gun bill he did not veto.

 

[LKB3rd]

I met a democrat state rep last week who has his carry permit, and was interested to hear about the open carry situation in CT. He didn't realize that it is legal, and is being unlawfully prohibited by misuse of other statues.
I agree, we need to encourage good people, and stop with all of the partisan nonsense.

 

[Kalahari]

Still a dem. They'll turn on you faster than you can blink an eye.

As if Republicans wouldn't do the same thing (and have)...

 

[william_munny]

It is less of a Democrat and Republican issue. There are both asses and elephants that support the 2A. Just remember that Republicans have done the gun culture plenty of harm: Reagan signed a handful of bills when he was both governor of CA and POTUS, Mitt Romney with his MA-exclusive AWB, freakin' Ahhnold with his ammo regulations.

Sure, there's way more dems that have it out for us than pubs, but it's hardly a partisan issue.

 

[drgrant]

Still a dem. They'll turn on you faster than you can blink an eye.

Gun owners have had plenty of republicans do the same thing to them.

Arlen Sphincter (didn't show up for a key vote where the original AWB could have been trashed and not brought to vote) GHW bush sr, etc, etc. (and his son threatened to do the coup de grace of signing the new AWB if congress passed it). If I wanted to I could post pages of stuff where we've been stabbed in the back by an (R).

The party is not a reliable indicator of support for RKBA. While they suck less than the dems do on average in this
regard, their recent track record hasn't been that wonderful.

We also had a GOP controlled congress for awhile and virtually nothing was done to untangle or clarify the mess of garbage laws gun owners have to deal with at the federal level. On a good day, the "GOP average" is about maintaining the status quo of unreasonable laws and restrictions.

-Mike

 

[fubar]

I'm amused and encouraged by the new twist on ( correctly ) labling 2A issues as Civil Rights fights.

Everybody likes " civil rights " , hard to be the elected official who is against Civil Rights.

 

[mikem317]

I really hope this Chicago thing goes through. New York is next. Boston would follow, etc. Like dominoes.

I'm amused and encouraged by the new twist on ( correctly ) labling 2A issues as Civil Rights fights.

Everybody likes " civil rights " , hard to be the elected official who is against Civil Rights.

While true, it's really a natural rights issue. Self-preservation.

 

[JoeyB]

I really hope this Chicago thing goes through. New York is next. Boston would follow, etc. Like dominoes.

That would be something else! I moved into Worcester after I had an unrestricted LTC so I am good for about 5 more years, but hope I'm either not here when it expires or Worcester because CC friendly (ha!)

While true, it's really a natural rights issue. Self-preservation.

You read Rothbard's take on this?