Thursday, February 23, 2017

Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Ignores Heller: No Protection for Guns It Deems “Dangerous”



Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Ignores Heller: No Protection for Guns It Deems “Dangerous”
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions in Heller and McDonald, many of the lower U.S. courts have been making up their own rules when it comes to the Second Amendment. Tuesday’s outrageous opinion by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Kolbe v. Hogan is yet another example of this. In that case, nine of out fourteen judges ruled that America’s most popular types of rifles, banned in the state of Maryland, have no Second Amendment protection. 

The Court called the banned firearms – which include AR-15s and most magazine-fed semi-automatic rifles – “exceptionally lethal weapons of war.” It compared them to the M16, which the court claimed made them categorically unprotected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Heller. The Court called the difference between a machine gun and a semi-automatic “slight”, despite the substantial differences in function and form, so much so that the federal law regulates each in highly dissimilar ways. The NRA, on behalf of a free people, will continue to vindicate the rights of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear the best firearms available to protect themselves and their loved ones.  As we’ve been there every step of the way in the Kolbe fight, we will continue to press forward, including appealing the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And in doing so, the judges joining the majority opinion actually said that they do not consider themselves bound by the Supreme Court’s majority decision in Heller (to say nothing of their sworn oath to uphold the Constitution).

Heller, of course, concerned the most demonstrably lethal and crime-associated of all firearms: the handgun. Handguns are implicated in more deaths, and more firearm-related crimes, than all other types of firearms combined … by a very large margin. This was extensively briefed for the Supreme Court during the Heller proceedings, and no one contested that argument. 

The NRA, on behalf of a free people, will continue to vindicate the rights of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear the best firearms available to protect themselves and their loved ones.  As we’ve been there every step of the way in the Kolbe fight, we will continue to press forward, including appealing the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moreover, the majority opinion in Heller did not shrink from these facts. The opinion’s author, Justice Scalia, put it very plainly: “We are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this country, and we take seriously the concerns raised by the many amici who believe that prohibition of handgun ownership is a solution.” He continued: “But the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table. These include the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.”  

In other words, the fact that criminals exploit handguns for their own evil purposes could not overcome the fact that responsible, law-abiding Americans also choose them to defend themselves, their families, and their homes. 

Heller also counsels against policy-makers picking and choosing among firearm types when enacting prohibitions.  “It is no answer to say, as petitioners do, that it is permissible to ban the possession of handguns so long as the possession of other firearms (i.e., long guns) is allowed,” Scalia wrote. “It is enough to note, as we have observed, that the American people have considered the handgun to be the quintessential self-defense weapon.”

In the post-Heller era, the same could be said of the detachable magazine-fed semi-automatic rifles of the type banned in Maryland. They’re not just popular guns, they’re the most popular types of rifles on the market today. And the fact that many, many millions reside in the hands of Americans, with such a miniscule percentage used in violent crime, show that they are overwhelmingly kept and used for lawful purposes. 

But the Fourth Circuit disregarded all this, and instead chose to follow Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion in Heller. Breyer insisted that even if the majority was right that Second Amendment protects an individual right grounded in self-defense, “the District's regulation … represents a permissible legislative response to a serious, indeed life-threatening, problem.”

Of course, virtually every author of every gun control law that has ever been passed or proposed has claimed the measure is a matter of life and death. Never mind that few can show any actual evidence their proposed restrictions will save lives. And even if they could, Heller could not be clearer that this claim does not end the matter when it comes to banning the sorts of arms commonly kept by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. The majority very specifically rejected Breyer’s attempts to use inapt analogies and “interest-balancing” to preserve D.C.’s handgun ban. 

Inapt analogies and interest-balancing, however, are exactly the techniques employed by the Kolbe majority. They counterfactually try to analogize AR-15s to M16s and other “weapons of war,” and then they insist such firearms can be subject to a ban because they’re dangerous.  It’s likely that any ban of any type of firearm – and under any circumstances – would survive this shallow and self-serving rationale.

If, as the Fourth Circuit suggests, a firearm loses Second Amendment protection because it is specifically designed for “killing or disabling the enemy,” then the whole idea of the Second Amendment protecting a defensive purpose (or applying to any well-designed firearm, for that matter) collapses. Handguns, rifles, and shotguns of any type can be equally “dangerous.”   

It’s bad enough that the Fourth Circuit considers the choices actually made by law-abiding people irrelevant when it comes to the Second Amendment, contrary to the clear admonition of Heller. 

Yet the court’s reasoning is worse than that. It challenges the very notion of freedom itself and the ability of a free people to govern themselves and make their own choices from available alternatives. It puts the people who vote and pay taxes and follow the law below the government that is supposed to serve them and below the criminals who will use every available means to prey upon them. It empowers the courts to decide, on a case-by-case basis, what firearms are “safe” enough for a free people to be trusted to own.

The NRA, on behalf of a free people, will continue to vindicate the rights of all law-abiding Americans to keep and bear the best firearms available to protect themselves and their loved ones.  As we’ve been there every step of the way in the Kolbe fight, we will continue to press forward, including appealing the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Michael F. Bennet was a clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, and is married to Susan D. Daggett.

Note: Susan D. Daggett is married to Michael F. Bennet, and was an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), and the Center for American Progress.
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a friend of Michael Douglas, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and a supporter for the Center for American Progress.  
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Harlem Children's Zone, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Center for American Progress, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).  
Michael R. Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, a contributor for the Americans for Responsible Solutions, is the founder for the Independence USA PAC, a co-chair for the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the founder of Everytown for Gun Safety, and the founder of the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Americans for Responsible Solutions is a “Gun Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns.
Independence USA PAC is a “Gun Safety, Gun Control” PAC for guns. 
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a “Gun Safety, Gun Control” group for guns.
Everytown for Gun Safety is a “Gun Safety, Gun Control” group for guns.
Warren E. Buffett is an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety, and an adviser for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Michael Douglas is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a friend of George Soros.
Sam Nunn is a co-chairman & CEO for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Hisashi Owada is a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Walter Isaacson is a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and the president & CEO for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Maya Lin is a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation, and an honorary trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Bloomberg Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Arjun Gupta is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Natural Resources Defense Council is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.
Susan D. Daggett was an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and is married to Michael F. Bennet.
Michael F. Bennet is married to Susan D. Daggett, and was a clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Susan Crown was a trustee at the Natural Resources Defense Council, is Lester Crown’s daughter, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago.
Lester Crown is Susan Crown & James S. Crown’s father, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).    
James S. Crown is Lester Crown’s son, the vice chairman for the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Bloomberg Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.           
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Rahm I. Emanuel is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor, Ezekiel Emanuel’s brother, and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.   
Ezekiel Emanuel is Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, was a health care policy adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a faculty member at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Center for American Progress calls for heightened Gun Safety, Gun Control” for guns.
Stephen G. Breyer is a trustee at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, and was a justice for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.
David Hackett Souter was a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, a justice for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, and Julius Genachowski was his clerk.
Julius Genachowski was David Hackett Souter’s clerk, is a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and married to Rachel Goslins. 
Bloomberg Family Foundation was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Rachel Goslins is married to Julius Genachowski, and a director for the Arts and Industries Building for the Smithsonian Institution.
John G. Roberts Jr. is the chancellor for the Smithsonian Institution, the chief justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, and an honorary member of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA).
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is the president emeritus for the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, VA), an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).  
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.       
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.     
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was a funder for the Center for American Progress.
Center for American Progress calls for heightened Gun Safety, Gun Control” for guns.
Ezekiel Emanuel is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, was a health care policy adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a faculty member at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Center for American Progress calls for heightened Gun Safety, Gun Control” for guns.
Stephen G. Breyer is a trustee at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, and was a justice for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.

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