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Members Of Congress Sign Brief Opposing D.C. Gun Ban

echo6tango

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This kind of stuff gives me some hope :lol:

Members Of Congress Sign Brief Opposing D.C. Gun Ban

WASHINGTON -- Fifty-five U.S. senators and 250 representatives have signed a legal brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down D.C.'s gun ban.

They want the court to make it clear that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own guns for their protection.

The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case on March 18. The justices will examine the 31-year-old ban on handguns, one of the strictest gun-control laws in the nation.

A federal appeals court struck down the ban in March as incompatible with the Second Amendment.

The lawmakers who signed are mostly Republicans, but nine Democrats in the Senate and 68 in the House joined them.

At issue is whether the Second Amendment of the Constitution protects an individual's right to own guns or instead merely sets forth the collective right of states to maintain militias.

quoted from: http://www.nbc4.com/news/15247098/detail.html
 

markand

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This is good news.

FYI--another article about this is a little more expansive in the Examiner:

http://www.examiner.com/a-1207837~Majorities_in_House__Senate_back_DC_gun_owners_in_key_court_case.html


Majorities in House, Senate back DC gun owners in key court case

Feb 7, 2008 WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate are backing gun owners in a landmark Supreme Court case.

The court next month will hear arguments in a challenge to the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, the most important gun rights case at the Supreme Court in 70 years.

Fifty-five senators and 250 representatives have signed onto a brief that urges the justices to strike down the ban and assert that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own guns for their protection.

"The Supreme Court has the perfect case to affirm ... a Second Amendment right to own a gun for self-defense," Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said at a Washington news conference Thursday.

Nine Democrats in the Senate and 68 in the House joined much larger Republican contingents in signing the brief, which is expected to be filed Friday.

The main issue before the justices is whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own guns or instead merely sets forth the collective right of states to maintain militias.

The Bush administration also supports individual gun rights. But the administration said governments still may impose reasonable restrictions on gun ownership and asked the justices to send the case back to lower courts without deciding whether the handgun ban fails that test.

Hutchison and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who also signed the brief, agreed that some restrictions are valid but said the court should declare the handgun ban unconstitutional and set a clear limit beyond which governments may not go to restrict gun ownership.
 

TEX1N

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The VP also signed it as the president of the senate! Which means that the "Bush administration" is not in complete agreement on their DOJ brief. I would suspect that congress' brief (in a democratically controlled senate and house) will carry more weight than the DOJ brief, which is good because the congressional brief is better!

Take that Bush and DOJ!!! :celebrate
 

Smurfologist

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TEX1N wrote:
The VP also signed it as the president of the senate! Which means that the "Bush administration" is not in complete agreement on their DOJ brief. I would suspect that congress' brief (in a democratically controlled senate and house) will carry more weight than the DOJ brief, which is good because the congressional brief is better!

Take that Bush and DOJ!!! :celebrate

Wait a minute........Isn't Bush from Texas?!?:monkey

2nd Amendment..........Use it............Or, lose it!!:X
 

XD Owner

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Sen Jim Webb (D-VA) signed, but conspicuously absent was Sen. John Warner (R-VA). What is wrong with that guy? I hope a pro-2A person replaces him.

Good for Webb!
 

Smurfologist

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XD Owner wrote:
Sen Jim Webb (D-VA) signed, but conspicuously absent was Sen. John Warner (R-VA). What is wrong with that guy? I hope a pro-2A person replaces him.

Good for Webb!

I didn't vote for Sen Jim Webb, but, maybe I will be convinced to vote for him as long as he doesn't take my guns rights away (smile)!!:what:

2nd Amendment..............Use it.............Or, lose it!!:X
 
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