Those Darned Gun Nuts! Who could object to the feds validating the moral character of and keeping dossiers on pistol packers?
by Jim Babka, Downsize DC
Reposted by the Coffee Coaster with DDC permission
[The above title is the creation of Brian Wright, CC]
Text of letter to Downsize DC subscribers 02/02/09:
Quote of the Day
"Personnel is policy."
-- Morton Blackwell, 'Laws of the Public Policy Process (Rule 26)'
Subject:
A special message from
the Downsize DC Foundation
on a matter of public education...
Before and after the election there was a run on guns and ammo. Suppliers couldn't keep their shelves stocked. What provoked this?
The winning candidate promised 'common sense' gun reform, coincidentally a mantra of the leading gun control lobby. Those of us who treasure the entire Bill of Rights wondered, what would be ...
restricted?
taxed?
banned?
President Obama has signaled his policy intentions through the person he's chosen as Attorney General, Eric Holder. What does "common sense gun reform" mean to Mr. Holder? As Clinton's Deputy Attorney General, Holder advocated ...
federal licensing of handgun owners
a waiting period on handgun sales
rationing handgun sales to no more than one per month
banning possession of firearms by anyone under age of 21, and
giving the federal government the power to shut down gun shows
It gets worse. After 9/11 Holder wrote an op-ed proposing that the federal government have a record of every gun purchase so that gun owners could be matched against government "watch lists," such as the cancerous terrorist watch list that now contains a million names.
This is Mr. Holder's past record. Has he changed? The answer is no...
Earlier this year Mr. Holder cosigned a brief in District of Columbia v. Heller. The brief defended DC's ban on...
all handguns
using a gun in self-defense, and...
asserted that the Second Amendment is a "collective," not an individual right
Enter Stephen Halbrook, author of "The Founders' Second Amendment: Origins of the Rights to Bear Arms." Mr. Halbrook also filed a brief in the Heller case, on behalf of 55 Senators, the Senate President, and 250 House members.
Mr. Halbrook's brief summarized the evidence from his book, using the Founders' own statements, correspondence, debates, and resolutions to demonstrate conclusively that the right to bear arms is indeed an individual right, not a rationed privilege reserved to a government-controlled militia.
Alone among President Obama's appointment, the Holder nomination has been delayed. We believe Mr. Halbrook's testimony contributed to this, in spite of the fact that the New York Times claims that "No one has questioned Mr. Holder's qualifications."
We think Mr. Halbrook deserves a higher profile so that maybe even the New York Times will take notice. People need to hear his voice in the coming debate over "common sense gun laws." One way to do that is by making his book, The Founders' Second Amendment, a best-seller.
The Independent Institute is sponsoring a "book bomb" for this purpose. A similar "book bomb" made Dr. Ron Paul's recent book a best-seller.
All media outlets should interview Mr. Halbrook whenever they cover the gun issue. Pushing Mr. Halbrook's book onto the best-seller list could make that happen. Sign-up to participate at the "book bomb" website.
http://www.DownsizeDC.org is sponsored by DownsizeDC.org, Inc. -- a non-profit educational organization promoting the ideas of individual liberty, personal responsibility, free markets, and small government.
