BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has filed an amicus curiae brief in District of Columbia v Heller, in the appeal of the historic case that overturned the district’s 31-year-old handgun ban because it violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms affirmed by the Second Amendment.
Written by Bellingham, Wash. attorney Jeffrey B. Teichert, the brief was filed in cooperation with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and several university scholars. It carefully details the history of the Second Amendment, and dismantles arguments by the District of Columbia that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms was written only to protect some mythical state’s right to organize and maintain a militia.
“Our 53-page brief is tightly written, and it refutes contentions by the District and anti-gun rights organizations that the Second Amendment is exclusively written for the common defense, and only applies to military service,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “The brief, which can be read on our website at CCRKBA :: Homepage, goes right to the heart of this case, and essentially dismantles every specious claim by anti-gunners about the intent of this Amendment.”
CCRKBA’s brief also properly labels arguments by the Brady Campaign that the English Bill of Rights only provided for arms for the military as “patent nonsense.” Likewise, the brief notes that the District of Columbia’s argument would deny the sovereignty of the people by falsely claiming that the Second Amendment permits them to be disarmed in favor of an exclusive military class.
“The District of Columbia cannot abolish a fundamental constitutional right anymore than Congress can,” Gottlieb said. “Furthermore, neither the District, nor its anti-gun-rights supporters, can be allowed to transform a civil right into a privilege, as they seek to do by regulating the Second Amendment into irrelevancy.”
“For the past several months anti-gun extremists have been beating drums about the downfall of civilization if the high court correctly upholds the Second Amendment as protective of an individual civil right,” Gottlieb stated. “That argument amounts to hysteria. The Second Amendment is the cornerstone of liberty and public safety in this country, whether the District or its supports like it or not. Our brief to the Supreme Court clearly explains this.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA :: Homepage) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
Written by Bellingham, Wash. attorney Jeffrey B. Teichert, the brief was filed in cooperation with the Evergreen Freedom Foundation and several university scholars. It carefully details the history of the Second Amendment, and dismantles arguments by the District of Columbia that the constitutional right to keep and bear arms was written only to protect some mythical state’s right to organize and maintain a militia.
“Our 53-page brief is tightly written, and it refutes contentions by the District and anti-gun rights organizations that the Second Amendment is exclusively written for the common defense, and only applies to military service,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “The brief, which can be read on our website at CCRKBA :: Homepage, goes right to the heart of this case, and essentially dismantles every specious claim by anti-gunners about the intent of this Amendment.”
CCRKBA’s brief also properly labels arguments by the Brady Campaign that the English Bill of Rights only provided for arms for the military as “patent nonsense.” Likewise, the brief notes that the District of Columbia’s argument would deny the sovereignty of the people by falsely claiming that the Second Amendment permits them to be disarmed in favor of an exclusive military class.
“The District of Columbia cannot abolish a fundamental constitutional right anymore than Congress can,” Gottlieb said. “Furthermore, neither the District, nor its anti-gun-rights supporters, can be allowed to transform a civil right into a privilege, as they seek to do by regulating the Second Amendment into irrelevancy.”
“For the past several months anti-gun extremists have been beating drums about the downfall of civilization if the high court correctly upholds the Second Amendment as protective of an individual civil right,” Gottlieb stated. “That argument amounts to hysteria. The Second Amendment is the cornerstone of liberty and public safety in this country, whether the District or its supports like it or not. Our brief to the Supreme Court clearly explains this.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA :: Homepage) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
