Posted on 05/15/2008 1:28:25 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The political “hot button” issues of guns and judges have become intertwined in this election year. The fate of both issues will be decided by the candidate we elect as president. Why? Because over a four-year term, that president will likely appoint at least two and possibly three justices to the United States Supreme Court. Simply stated, this year when we elect a president, we will also cast our ballot for the next Supreme Court.
Everyone concerned about the Second Amendment and judicial accountability should heed John McCain’s speech to the NRA on May 16. The presumptive Republican nominee will speak directly to guns owners about the Second Amendment at the NRA’s Celebration of American Values event at the NRA Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky.
And in America today, there has never been a greater opportunity or a greater threat to gun rights. In March, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the watershed case of District of Columbia v. Heller, a lawsuit challenging the DC gun ban. Residents of the District of Columbia are categorically prohibited from possessing handguns and operable long guns (rifles and shotguns) in their homes, even for self-defense.
The Heller case turns on whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms refers to private, law-abiding citizens, or whether it is a right of the people “collectively” to have guns only when they serve in the National Guard or a state-sponsored militia unit. The Court is scheduled to decide the case the third week in June.
Whatever the Court decides, that decision will shape gun rights in America for generations to come. The Heller decision will become the definitive standard for gun rights in America. The Second Amendment is the insurance policy on American liberty. And whether you own guns or not, you cannot afford for a single minute to think that it doesn’t matter to you, your family or the security of this country.
Just like other controversial decisions, such as those on religious liberty and free speech, the Heller decision will lead to many more questions than it answers.
When the Court decided Everson v. Board of Education in 1947 it created the doctrine of separation of church and state. For over 60 years this nation has grappled with what that doctrine means, in a raging cultural battle.
When the Court declared a previously unnoticed right to abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973, America’s courts and presidential politics were thrust into an issue that still stirs deep passions and is ever present in political debates.
From now on, the same will be true of the Second Amendment. The Heller decision will launch 30 years of defining the nature and scope of gun rights in our courts. The Heller holding will likely be narrow, and will leave open countless other questions, such as what kinds of guns are protected, how far that right extends beyond your home, and whether the Second Amendment controls state law. At least some of these questions will find their way up to the Supreme Court years later. Who sits on the Court when those cases arrive matters a great deal to those of us who believe in the value of widespread lawful gun ownership in America.
That’s why the 2008 presidential election has unprecedented importance for gun owners. Despite their campaign rhetoric purporting to support the right to keep and bear arms, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are categorically opposed to our Second Amendment rights. Hillary Clinton opposed the 2005 tort reform law that saved the American gun industry from bankruptcy. Barack Obama has declared his opposition to all concealed carry laws. He has refused to repudiate his answer to a 1996 questionnaire, where he answered “yes” to a question asking if he supported laws banning “the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns.” And Senator Obama’s true contempt for gun owners came out when he described us as “clinging” to our guns out of bitterness.
In contrast, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain joined bipartisan majorities on a Congressional amicus brief in the Supreme Court in DC v. Heller for the proposition that the Second Amendment protects an individual right. Both Clinton and Obama refused to sign that brief, instead supporting the District of Columbia’s law that prohibits its law-abiding residents from possessing any operable firearm at home, even for self-defense.
The president of the United States appoints all federal judges. Senator McCain has stated he will appoint justices like John Roberts and Sam Alito, and Antonin Scalia, all of whom seem likely to vote to uphold individual gun rights. Senator Obama, on the other hand, has promised to nominate liberal judicial activists and wants the Court to uphold the DC gun ban.
So who Americans elect as president this year will determine the fate of the Second Amendment. In electing a president we also elect a Supreme Court, and in the coming years the makeup of the High Court will be crucial in defining our rights.
For that reason I’m honored to serve on Senator McCain’s Justice Advisory Committee, and will do everything I can to make sure that America’s 90 million gun owners elect a president who will appoint Supreme Court justices faithful to the text of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Second Amendment.
Gun owners are very sensible people. America’s heartland is filled with people devoted to faith, family and classic American values like lawful gun ownership for hunting, recreation and self-defense. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could learn a lot from them, but I doubt they’ll be joining us at the NRA convention.
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Sandy Froman is the immediate past president of the National Rifle Association of America, only the second woman and the first Jewish American to hold that office in the 136-year history of the NRA. The views expressed are her own and not that of any organization.
I’m going to have to agree with poster (A Balrog of Morgoth). John McCain is attempting to force conservatives to ratify the global warming fraud out of fear of an Obama or Hillary presidency. What’s worse is I think the guy enjoys sticking it to conservatives. Up until McCain’s recent speech outlining his global warming agenda I could have voted for him, but not any more. McCain’s proposed environmental policy is Socialism pure and simple and I’m not going to deliberately support it with my vote. We as a party must look at the long term. McCain will destroy the conservative movement and the GOP.
From my screen name you might accurately conclude that issues concerning the RKBA are important to me to say the least, so you can understand how difficult it is for me to decline to support our party’s nominee.
Conservatives are the LAST ones he will listen to about a VP.
There will be other ways to exercise some sort of grassroots restraint on President McCain. The places where he differs with the interests of Americans are all hot button issues. Bush wasn't able to get immigration through because of the grassroots, and McCain will have the same problem.
And the GOP was never really a conservative party any more than the Democrats were. They were always parasitic politicians first, and conservatives second. It's just that we've all stopped giving them a pass on it.
Unfortunately our system is thoroughly broken, and just electing someone isn't enough anymore. Once we put them in office we need to continually hound and berate them to keep them on the right path. The interests of those in the government, and the interests of the American people are no longer the same. We will only be able to keep them in line through constant diligence.
Presidential elections are short term, but Supreme Court appointments are long term results. Supreme Court appointments can last 25 years or even longer.
Organization amongst conservatives is key to controlling Mr. McCain.
I can’t even get conservatives to show up at local town meetings to politically clean up their own backyards. How can conservatives exert any influence when they don’t show up at meetings to control their local governments
The Founders realized you must have a political base - local government - to operate from before taking on large central government. That lesson hasn’t been learned yet.
Um, that war we had in the 1860's pretty much did away with that whole idea. The 10th Amendment doesn't carry as much weight since then.
I certainly don’t agree with Al Gore’s global warming BS, but I do think that Newt Gingrich has a point when he says that we can’t let the Lefties and the envirofacists own this discussion. On this subject, they rule the field.
If McCain wants to lay some groundwork so that a reasonable voice can talk about this subject, I have no objection.
All that oil that sits in ANWAR and all the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is a very good reason to start hitting back at the GW cult.
No, not EVER!
There will be no turning back from their absolute tidal wave of social and political ‘reforms’ they will foist upon us, depend on it!
THAT SAID... denying citizens of the U.S. a legal right to gun ownership will IMMEDIATELY precipitate the need for many more and larger prisons in this country,...because it will make lawbreakers of all of us.
Myself, I have never owned or wanted a gun...BUT, the instant you tell me I cannot legally possess one... I WILL BE OUT THERE SHOPPING FOR A GUN AND AMO!!!! THAT'S A PROMISE!
I’ll make it easier for you. I’m voting against the dem party and once the dem party can’t get a dog catcher in office, that’s when I expect the Repuplican Party to finally stop pandering to the libs.
Hate to break it to you but we are not a conservative country so true conservatives have a tough time getting elected.
Gee, why not go out today?
I'm sorry you have so little faith in the United States of America and its resilience to bad leadership. How did we ever get through Carter? And THAT was a horrible time!
I totally agree with McCain’s web site on the 2nd Amendment. The problem is, can we trust him? I’ll wait to see who his running mate is before deciding on if to vote for him. God be with us.
LOL. By the time you decide to buy a gun, you’ll either won’t find one or can’t afford it.
Buy a gun with your rebate and LEARN TO USE IT.
Just a few things I wanted to point out here.
If Sandy Froman is advising McCain on judges with respect to the 2nd Amendment, thats a good thing. She is one of the good guys (maybe gals is more appropriate here).
If Bob Bahr had any shot whatsoever to win the Presidency from the constitutional party I would vote for him in a second. He doesn’t so if I vote for him or some other third party candidate in the general election I’m just wasting my vote.
I could agree with people who say vote third party or stay home about John McCain except for one reason. That is that all signs appear to show that the down ticket people are going to take a blood bath. Three safe seats in Mississippi Louisisana and Illinois have just gone from red to blue. It’s not a good trend. Obama in the white house without support from Congress is not the worst thing in the world. However, if the dumbocrats get a super majority in the Congress with Obama as President that is simply not an option.
In conclusion, I would have to say that holding my nose and voting for McCain is the only option. Getting half of what I want and being raging mad at the other half is better than getting universal health care, higher taxes and socialist judges rammed down my throat. It’s the world we live in right now. The important thing is that he gives us a good conservative VP and we go out and do all we can to support the down ticket people in the Congress and the Senate.
The last thing I wanted to address is someone who mentioned about the 10th amendment being trampled during the Civil war. While it’s true that the 10th amendment has been trampled upon, I don’t think that having the federal government step in and stop a whole race of people (Americans by the way) from being denied their civil liberties qualifies as trampling on the 10th amendment. If the federal government is not there to protect all of our civil liberties even when the state government won’t what is it for?
--for the "grasp at dandelion" quoters, Ronald Reagan put it best: " If you go over a cliff with all flags flying, you are still going over a cliff"---
I must have missed that.
McCain’s “beliefs” are subject to change without notice. He has an anti-gun history. Anybody remember the “Gun Show Loophole” cr@p?
So, it depends on his Vice President. McCain is OLD. He is not likely to last two entire terms. If he picks a good VP, one that we’d like to see as President, we should vote for him, simply to position a good prospect for the next term.
If he picks some RINO type, to heck with him.
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