SAS ANNOUNCES AMICUS BRIEF IN HELLER

FROM THE SECOND AMENDMENT SISTERS
900 R.R. 620 S
Suite C101, Box 228
Lakeway, TX 78734
World Wide Web: http://www.2asisters.org
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/20/07
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For additional information contact:
Genie Jennings, SAS Spokesperson
Phone: 877-271-6216
E-mail: saspress@2asisters.org
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Lakeway, TX –

Second Amendment Sisters is pleased and proud to announce that we are joining South East Legal Foundation in filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court hearing of Washington, D.C. v. Heller. We are particularly interested in the benefits of firearms in self-defense for women, the elderly and the disabled.

SAS has watched this case closely, since it was originally prepared as Parker v. Washington, D.C. The successful outcome of that case in the lower court was heartening to all who believe in the Second Amendment and in the basic human right of self-defense.

The city’s 1975 handgun ban has made it impossible for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and their families within the confines of their own domiciles. If this prohibitive law is found unconstitutional, for the first time in three decades residents of the nation’s capitol will be allowed to have an effective means of protection within their homes.

This case does not address carrying a firearm, either concealed or openly, on the streets of the city. It does not address the legality of the city to control the use of firearms in the city. It addresses the constitutionality of the city to override the Second Amendment rights of individuals to keep and bear arms.

Second Amendment Sisters believes that self-defense is a basic human right. We have a right to life; we have a right to defend that right and the rights of those around us; we have a right to the means to do so.

If we are denied the means to defend our life, we are effectively denied our right to life. For over thirty years the citizens of Washington, D.C. have been denied the right to a means of protecting their lives, and thereby denied their basic human right to life.

We are confident in a positive outcome to the Supreme Court hearing. Individual rights are important to both conservative and liberal judges.

Second Amendment Sisters is a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the individual basic human right to self-defense.

“The SU Supreme Court has repeatedly spoke to the Second Amendment as securing an individual right to bear arms.

In modern times: U.S. v. Miller (appearing to hold that if an arm was in common use and suitable for militia duty it was exempt from federal tax stamp requirements;”

The very fact that *Miller* was decided on the merits means a LOT. The USSC doesn’t like to decide cases, especially political issue cases, and denies cert. in something like 99% of all filings. The Court could easily have said, “Miller failed to state a claim, cert. denied.” This would be identical to the Silviera v. Lockyer case, in which the 9th Circus said that the 2nd isn’t about individual rights, therefore no individual can bring a case. No, in Miller the case was decided with the assumption that Miller had a 2nd Amendment RKBA, and the specific issue decided was whether the gun he had was protected by the 2nd. Of course, the decision was non-sensical:

“In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a “shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length” at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.”

That short barreled shotguns were useful to the military was beyond question - they were known as “trench brooms” in WW1, which occurred only about 20 years previously. Under Miller, we’d all have the right to go out and purchase a full auto M16 or M4.

Here’s a great link for a discussion on Miller: http://www.rkba.org/research/miller/Miller.html

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