District attorneys nationwide ask Supreme Court to keep gun ban

Newsday ^ | January 11, 2008 | SAMUEL MAULL

[walkerk]

Prosecutors from across the country, afraid that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling could erode state gun laws, on Friday asked the high court to uphold a ban on unlicensed handguns.

...

The prosecutors, led by district attorneys Robert M. Morgenthau of New York County and Kamala D. Harris of San Francisco, say they worry that what applies in Washington might have an impact on their communities.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Dwyer, head of Morgenthau's appeals bureau, said the high court's review of the Second Amendment will be its first since 1939.

"We would like for the court to reverse the D.C. circuit," Dwyer said, "for them to say there is no individual right to possess a gun, that it (the Second Amendment) enables states to arm militias."

"We hope they don't say anyone can have a gun anytime he wants," Dwyer said.

...

The district attorneys, who represent a total of more than 25 million people, come from jurisdictions that include New York, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, San Diego, Oakland and Atlanta.

[billmor]

The key word here is ‘unlicensed’...right now many large cities and counties want to keep the right to force anyone who purchases or owns a handgun to apply for a right to carry license..

I think in the D.C. it is totally illegal to own a handgun..in New York City there are only about 10,000 licenses issued out of a total city population of around 8 million..Some cities in Colorado were also very restrictive about issuing handgun licenses and charged an exorbitant fee for a gun license...This is a clear infringement on the spirit of the 2nd Amendment which allows private citizens to own guns, namely that it gives citizens the right to bear arms and the right of States to raise militias..

I think the S.C. will rule in favor of the armed guard- the Plaintiff in the case and will allow him to keep his weapon at his home, thereby allowing citizens to own and keep arms. Whether it rules that the guns must be licensed is another matter...The Second Amendment says nothing about whether the gun must be licensed, and if the Court takes a strict interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, then it should rule that the guns do not have to be licensed.

That said, there is a Federal Law- upheld by the SC- that says the government cannot and must not keep a database of any kind,of purchasers for more than 30 days after sale of a gun through a registered dealer..private sales of guns are off the record, of course..Some States have violated this- Florida was one- and they were ordered to destroy their database..Soo—that eliminates the need to even ‘register’ a gun with a municipality...

This will be a very interesting ruling by the S.C.

[Kickass Conservative]

But Michael Moore is able to advertise his pack of lies movies before the 2004 and 2006 elections. No bias here.

BTW - A big thank you goes out to Senator’s McCain and Feingold for their wonderful legislation and the liberal Jurists on the Supreme Court for eviscerating the First Amendment.

[Spok]

“Do you think you will be able to maintain that position and advance in your career in public service?”

I’m not sure, but you’ve got me thinking about how Thomas More might’ve answered it. But I think you’ve mistaken me for a career bureaucrat, which I am not.

[fella]

If the Supreme Court is supposed to be above politics why do so many groups openly try to influence it’s decisions through political means?

[Carry_Okie]

They will rule in favor of the D.C. ban with the following caveat -- they will rule the 2nd Amendment is an INDIVIDUAL RIGHT, but that D.C. is a FEDERAL PROPERTY and for that reason they can ban handguns the same as a military base.

No way they can do that under the 14th Amendment.

[endthematrix]

It’s got Bloomy’s stink on it alright. But IMO it goes deeper, that is in higher places, and the anti-RKBA agenda is older.

The collusion of UN, BATF, Governors, Mayors and the various LEO front groups like FOP and the Law Enforcement Steering Committee and DA’s in instituting a gun free Utopia...hearkens to 1968.

[Dog Gone]

This is another reason I simply cannot support Rudy Giuliani or any other prosecutor anymore as they are given far too much latitude in whether to prosecute, or not, and it gives them god-like power over their fellow man and they cannot resist the infatuation that power gives them.

What's the alternative? Surely you want prosecutors. Otherwise, there is no way to enforce the law. And we can't take away their discretion.

I suppose you could have them draw names out of a hat to prosecute that day, but other than a system that forces them to prosecute someone and not another, I don't see how you can take their judgment out of the equation.

[NRA2BFree]

And we need to track just who agrees with him, and drive as many of them out of office as we can manage. Does there exist a website which tracks the record of public officials on the issue?? If not, then "there oughta be".

I agree with you. They should be tracked so we can boot the traitors out of office.

The First Traitor has just sold gun owners down the river.

That man has got to go. We can't survive another year of him.

[SierraWasp]

Well, I can't argue with your point of view, other than to say that the voters in each local and state jurisdiction needs to better inform themselves about the attitude of each dude and dudette running for such a powerful office to pop the question of how they will adjudge the gun control and the supposed EnvironMental Crimes prosecutions while in office. The voters need to exercise better judgement!!!

They should also better question what these people's oaths to protect and defend our constitutions means to them as individuals and what their intentions are. Because, once they're in office, it's Katie bar the damned door as far as some of these runaway prosecutors and runaway Grand Juries inspired by these rabid prosecutors are concerned.

Look what that jerk prosecutor did to Tom Delay down there in your fair state!!! Look what jerks like Eliot Spitzer have done in NY state!!! Not to mention Niphong...

[Wonder Warthog]

"That man has got to go. We can't survive another year of him."

Well, thanks to the "only two terms as President" amendment, he WILL go (thank God for the wisdom of the voters in passing THAT amendment after FDR). But we'll also just have to live with him until his successor is sworn in, because Pelosi, et al, won't be able to impeach him.