Posted on 12/06/2002 7:24:08 AM PST by Liberal Classic
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A federal appeals court ruling upholding California's ban on assault rifles was being portrayed Friday as a landmark in the constitutional debate over the right to bear arms.
In a 72-page ruling issued Thursday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Second Amendment only guarantees the rights of states to organize a militia, and doesn't say anything about citizens being allowed to own semi-automatic weapons or any other firearms.
"With the federal assault weapons ban scheduled to sunset next Congress, the California law stands as one example of how to more effectively restrict these weapons of war," said Matt Nosanchuk, legislative counsel for the Violence Policy Center.
The Ninth Circuit's unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel was at odds with a Fifth Circuit ruling known as the Emerson decision upholding an individual's right to possess a weapon, stating that the Second Amendment pertained to the organization of an organized, state-sponsored militia, and not "an 'unregulated' mob of armed individuals."
"Individual rights advocates have waved the Emerson decision like a battle flag," Nosanchuk said in a statement. "All they have done is awaken a sleeping giant of clear legal thinking and sound historical analysis that finds that the Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual right to own a gun."
The court agreed, however, that police officers that protect public safety were allowed to own firearms.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said the state had no desire to take away the rights of people to hunt or to protect themselves and their homes, however the state was intent on keeping high-powered weapons off the streets.
"While I respect the rights of Californians to pursue hunting and sports-shooting, and of law-abiding citizens to protect their homes and businesses, there is no need for these military-style weapons to be on the streets of our state," Lockyer said.
There was no immediate word as to whether the Justice Department would appeal the ruling or seek a full court review; meanwhile some gun-owners groups concluded the ruling was flawed.
"I don't think the court gets it at all," Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America told the Los Angeles Times. "The court neglected to mention self-defense when discussing legitimate uses of guns."
(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles)
Stay Safe
Sheesh, I'm hurt.
Shhhhh..... They already are WAYYYY outgunned. They just don't want you to bring it up... loose lips and all...
"I ask you sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials."
Maybe they know this quote by Mason, and agree with him, but from the other perspective on slavery:
"To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
The novel starts in Washington FedEx stadium when bullets begin to fly into an upper deck, which causes a panic stampede for the exits. The bullets continue to hit spectators, all this is on television of course since it is an NFL game, this adds to the panic. The crush of people high in the stadium fleeing down to the ramps causes the spectators near the upper deck rails to be pushed right over the edge to drop to the lower decks, all filmed on television by a dozen cameras. More people die in jams in the narrow ramps and exits; the total death count is over 1000. Dozens of U.S. Senators and Congressmen are eye witnesses. That is how the novel opens.
The shooter is found and killed 1200 yards outside of the stadium by a SWAT sniper in a police helicopter, a semi automatic so-called "assault rifle" at his side. He turns out to be an unemployed Desert Storm vet with a history of mental and physical problems attributed to "Gulf War Syndrome". This scrawny loser is soon connected to a group of hunters and shooters in southeastern Virginia ("Tidewater"). Jihad literature is found near his body in Arabic taking credit for the massacre in the name of an Islamic terrorist group. The "obvious" intent of the shooter was to blame Arab American Muslims for the massacre, but "luckily he was killed and the evil plan revealed". That is what the media and the sheeple believe. They are led to believe the shooting was actually planned and carried out by white yahoo rednecks from Virginia, trying to stir up hatred and armed reaction against Muslims in America. The motive is "obvious", all the evidence points to that conclusion. In fact, the shooter is a patsy dredged out of a VA hospital by the actual conspirators.
The massacre is predictably blamed on the easy access to high capacity "assault rifles", even by lunatics fresh out of the nut house. On Monday following the stadium massacre both houses of Congress pass an emergency bill in record time outlawing the private possession of all centerfire semi-auto rifles, with a one-week turn in period and no buy-back. The few pro 2nd Amendment congressmen willing to speak are shouted into silence, the bill is passed and signed by the liberal president, public opinion polls show overwhelming support for it.
The next Friday night there is a "gun store kristallnacht" in SE Virginia as "mobs of outraged citizens" in the dead patsy's home town torch them with gasoline bombs. The mobs are actually gang bangers on parole recruited by the actual organizers of the stadium massacre, who are two deranged and power mad BATF officials. They hope by creating a massacre blamed on easy access to high capacity "assault rifles" to become the leaders of a new anti-gun federal law enforcement division with sweeping powers and unlimited funding.
A decorated Viet Nam green beret is killed with a bomb secretly placed in his car, then it is leaked to the media that he was on his way to blow up a federal building when "his bomb went off prematurely". Other "false flag" black operations of this sort lead to a public climate of fear and hysteria over "right wing militia terrorism". The aim of the plotters is to have the president secretly authorize the creation of a special covert federal unit which will be permitted to act outside the constitution to pro-actively terminate "suspected terrorists" using Phoenix Program death squad tactics on American soil during "the emergency". Since federal SWAT teams are already made up to a great extent by former Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and others used to fighting terrorism overseas by "any means necessary", it is no problem putting together a secret domestic anti-terrorism unit which will combat our own "right wing terrorists" by the same extra-legal methods.
That is just the beginning, but as you can imagine, the plot does not exactly go according to plan. A new division of the BATF is secretly named the "lead agency" in the repression of "gun nuts and militia fanatics", when actually it was a rogue BATF senior official who orchestrated the stadium massacre in order to increase his power and his budget in the predictable reaction to the "right wing militia massacre and bombings". In fact, this official had conveniently already written contingency plans for this type of new counter terrorism unit, and is (as he planned) named the first chief of the new covert unit.
Anyway, the situation evolves into a sub rosa "dirty war" of secret arrests, covert "interrogation centers", "disappearances", assassinations and counter assassinations, with the JBTs using the latest technology, and the other side using scoped deer rifles one shot at a time against anti Bill of Rights politicians. Running throughout the book is the race to solve the mystery of the stadium shooter: was he truly, as reported, a deranged former Marine, or just a hapless patsy? Did he even fire a shot? If he is a patsy, who put him there with the rifle and why?
Needless to say, ABCNNBCBS has one opinion (the anti gun govt. line) while the internet forums are a hotbed of opposing theories. Conservative websites play a major role in revealing the details of the plot, the truth and the outcome is left up in the air until the very end, as some of the targeted "right wing gun nuts" take the dirty war back to the secret government death squad unit. The full truth about the stadium massacre and aftermath is readied for airing on one new major news network, while the secret government death squad races to stop the story from airing by all the means at its disposal, including bombings and assassinations.
The background of my plot is that if the JBTs (Jack Booted Thugs, federal SWAT teams) cannot find actual "right wing militia terrorists", it may prove very tempting to some in the "anti terrorism industry" to create them. It would really be simple to do: it would only take a few arranged massacres blamed on "right wing gun nuts" to create the proper atmosphere of hysteria. The FBI's budget grew from 2 to 4 billion dollars per year during the 1990s in the "war on terrorism", and this was before 9-11. You can only imagine the kind of money being directed against terrorism now, and the temptation that kind of money might provide to the unscrupulous who will direct and control that cash flow, and the federal law enforcement promotions which will be handed out as new departments are created and manpower rolls swell with new recruits.
But almost all of the new funding is going to the FBI in its battle against foreign born islamic terrorists. The BATF is again the red headed stepchild being left on the sidelines.... until in my novel a high ranking BATF official figures out a way to jump start a "war on right wing domestic terrorism" with his bogus stadium massacre, a massacre blamed on too easy access to "assault rifles". This puts the BATF center stage, and directs the money flow to this rogue BATF official's special unit, as he had planned.
BTW, what acronym is that?
Laws are one thing, they can pass a law ordering the sun to rise in the west. Actions are another thing.
I think that "Rule 308" would trump their so-called laws at that point.
It probably politically made sense at the time - there is no certainty that the SC would uphold the 5th with Partial-Birth O'Connor on the bench. Secondly, if they did uphold it, it would have made it harder for Bush to get conservatives on the SC, as the GOP was in the minority at the time. Just my thoughts.
I also think the 5th is the court that Pickering and Owens wer nominated for - no wonder Herr Schumer and Leahy wanted to keep conservatives off of it. Schumer especially is a anti gun Nazi.
It's too late to save the Nation but too early to start shooting the bastards.......Clare Wolff
BLOAT, Cache and Safe Safe !!
In my novel, after the semi autos are banned, politicians start getting "plinked" at long range, and it quickly dawns on the president and cabinet and congress that it is not possible to put a POTUS level 500+ yard security perimeter around all of the senior leadership. It just can't be done.
So their next move is to ban rifle scopes. Nice try. Doesn't work.
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