Unhinged over Heller

The ACLU says they disagree with the Supreme Court and continue to hold the Second Amendment is a collective right.  I have to admit, I have at one time been a member of the ACLU, because I have often respected some of the work they have done.  I will never give another dime to them because of this.  Not another dime!

This country desperately needs a real civil liberties advocacy group.

More on the San Francisco Case

Looks like it’s being filed as a Title 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 lawsuit, which is a federal civil rights statute that allows officials to be sued for deprivation of civil rights under the color of law.  The case is Guy Montag Doe vs. San Francisco Housing Authority (CV-08-3112).  You can see a copy of the complaint here.  One of the attorneys in this case is Don Kates, who is a pioneer of Second Amendment rights.  It names several defendants, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, as defendants.  They are being sued in their official capacity.

This case would seem to be a test as to whether the Second Amendment is actionable under Section 1983.  I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be.  No doubt the officials being sued are going to claim qualified immunity, using the theory that Heller is not clearly established law as applied to state and local government and officials.  My understanding is that qualified immunity is often difficult to overcome in these kinds of suits, especially where there’s not well established case law.  But I imagine the hope might be that The Courts might use existing case law and take notice that the second amendment is incorporated.

In the case of Duncan v. Louisiana, which incorporated the right to trial by jury, The Court laid out a guideline for whether a right would be considered applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.  They stated:

The question has been asked whether a right is among those “‘fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all our civil and political institutions,'”  whether it is “basic in our system of jurisprudence,” and whether it is “a fundamental right, essential to a fair trial.”

Given the broad ruling in Heller, it would be hard to see how the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms doesn’t pass the conditions spelled out in Duncan.  Nontheless, there is no clear ruling that says the second amendment is incorporated.  It will be interesting to see if the courts here simply take notice of its incorporation based on existing case law, or whether this will go to the Supreme Court.  Considering Justice Scalia’s disdain for selective incorporation, this might be just the kind of case The Court is looking for.  It’s very good that we’ll have a wide variety of cases proceeding upwards on this important question.

UPDATE: I asked Dave Hardy about qualified immunity claims in suits like this, and he indicated that when the 1983 suits merely asks for an injunction, qualified immunity isn’t at issue.  That only comes into play when the plaintiff is seeking damages.  In this case, they seem to only be asking for an injunction.

The Hysterics Continue

Via Bitter, who links to this fine bit of hysterics on the part of Dennis Herrera, the San Francisco City Attorney:

“In their apparent effort to maximize publicity for their pending challenges, the NRA lawyers’ hastily drafted complaint made glaring legal errors, and asserted facts that are not simply unsupported — but actually contradicted by evidence contained in their own exhibits,” Herrera said. “Their factually slipshod complaint makes plain that this case is a publicity stunt and a frivolous waste of judicial time and resources, which rules of court specifically prohibit. It is clear to me, and I believe it will be clear to the Court, that the NRA has improperly named the City in this action, and that this case is simply an effort to publicly harass their ideological foes.”

One of the great pleasures of the Heller decision is watching all these people who have thumbed their noses at us for the past two decades become absolutely unhinged over the ruling.  It’s better than any freak show.

A Study Opportunity

Gun control advocates are going to be studying the effects of the Heller decision on suicide rates in the District of Columbia.  Fortunately, I think most people are capable of coming to the quite rational conclusion that guns do not cause people to decide to commit suicide.

Public-health researchers have concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.

Studies have also shown that homes in which a suicide occurred were three to five times more likely to have a gun present than households that did not experience a suicide, even after accounting for other risk factors.

But apparently journalists are not capable of this level of deductive reasoning.  But here’s how they conclude it’s the guns:

More than 90 percent of suicide attempts using guns are successful, while the success rate for jumping from high places was 34 percent. The success rate for drug overdose was 2 percent, the brief said, citing studies.

“Other methods are not as lethal,” said Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore.

My theory on this has long been, people who actually want to kill themselves choose effective tools.  People who are crying out for help and attention choose less effective tools.  There’s no fundamental reason jumping from a high place only has a 34% success rate.  A plunge off the Golden Gate or a tall building or structure, is pretty much guaranteed to be 100% successful if you’re choosing your location based on actually wanting to die.  In Japan, where guns are illegal, and which has a suicide rate much higher than the United States, throwing yourself in front of a high speed train is becoming quite the rage, and I would imagine has an effectiveness rate close to 100%.

Help Those Who Help You

SayUncle notices that some gun rights groups are going to be stacking up some serious legal bills, and encourages you to donate.  I couldn’t agree more.  Also, I would add to that list, the California Rifile and Pistol Association, who have joined NRA in the suit against San Francisco, which challenges the ban on firearms in Public Housing.

Interesting side note, the Plaintiff in the San Francisco case is a gay man who wants to be able to protect himself.  So much for the notion of us being a bunch of cousin humping, gay hating rednecks eh?

So pony up and donate some bucks, or join these fine organizations.  The outcome of all this will depend on hiring the very best attorneys, and that’s often not a cheap proposition.

UPDATE: See this bit linked by Random Nuclear Strikes as well.

FBI Chief Wary of Your Rights

It’s good to see President Bush committed to nominating bureaucrats who are committed to preserving and sustaining individual liberty:

By a 5-4 vote last week, the nation’s highest court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns, the first major pronouncement on gun rights in history. It upheld the right for communities to license guns.

Mueller said communities will have to determine their own license programs. As a former Marine who served in Vietnam, he said “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.”

With his grandchildren going to college, Mueller said he hopes “those campuses will be weapons free.”

Except they didn’t say communities could license guns.  In fact, The Court speicifcally said they do not address that.  Since Mr. Heller did not ask the court the overturn the licensing requirement, The Court did not do so.  I guess it’s too much to ask of CBS News to do a little research, rather than just repeating nonsense.

Hat tip to NRA-ILA

UPDATE: “I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them.”  I anxiously await Mr. Muller’s memo that informs all FBI agents that they should cease and desist from carrying firearms.  Since it only endangers them, you know.

Airport Showdown

Apparently the Atlanta Airport has decided it’s above the new law passed by the Georgia Legislature, and signed into law by Governor Perdue.  One of the reps who was behind the whole effort was Tim Bearden:

“I have a permit, and I have family I have to pick up at the airport tomorrow [Tuesday],” Bearden told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “I’ll have one [a concealed weapon] with me at all times.”

Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said if Bearden shows up at the world’s busiest airport with a gun, he’ll be busted.

“I can identify him, and I’ll have him arrested,” DeCosta said Monday. “We’re not fooling around. This is a post-terrorism environment.”

Mr. DeCosta is setting himself up for a Section 1983 suit in federal court.  If I were Representative Bearden, I wouldn’t hesitate to sue this arrogant power hungry SOB into next week.  It seems to me that tyranny doesn’t have that much sense these days, which is good for us.