Joint Release: 12/06/02
Media Coverage & Court case link at bottom of page.

NINTH CIRCUIT COURT RULING 'TYPICALLY PREPOSTEROUS,' SAY GUN RIGHTS LEADERS

BELLEVUE, WA - In a joint announcement, leaders of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) today called the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right "A typically preposterous opinion from a court that has the worst track record in the nation for overturned decisions."

"The ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit has a reputation for being the most overturned appeals court in the country," said SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb. "Not only does the ruling run counter to extensive research supporting the Fifth Circuit's decision last year that confirmed the individual right to keep and bear arms, it defies logic and a mountain of historic scholarship. Clearly, the Second Amendment protects an individual right. The overwhelming majority of American citizens believe that interpretation, and perhaps the time has come for the Supreme Court to finally take up this issue."

"This is a good example of the type of ruling that comes out of the Ninth Circuit," CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron concurred. "Recall that this is the same court that ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional earlier this year. This ruling even relies on material from Michael Bellesiles, the anti-gun historian whose research has been so discredited that he was forced to resign from Emory University."

The very first footnote in Judge Reinhardt's opinion refers to research by the debunked university professor, whose anti-gun book Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, has been revealed as a monumental fraud, thus placing in question all of Bellesile's research as it relates to firearms civil rights.

Gottlieb noted that Judge Reinhardt's opinion appears to be written as much to debate last year's landmark ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court, as it is to justify California's continued effort to destroy a constitutional right by legislative whim and judicial fiat.

"To simply read Judge Reinhardt's strained dissertation on the meaning of the phrase 'to keep and bear arms' is to watch a man struggling to define the word 'is'," Gottlieb observed. "It appears to me this opinion was tailored to fit a decision that had been reached before the legal research was begun."

Added Waldron: "One again, we have an activist liberal court strenuously insisting that the term 'the people,' when used in the Second Amendment, means something different than when it is used in the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth amendments. No wonder they rejected the Pledge of Allegiance. They have no allegiance, to the rule of law, the English language, or for that matter, common sense."

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms 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.

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners. Current projects include several concealed carry lawsuits, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief & fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

The case is Silveira et. al. vs. Lockyer (2002) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0115098p.pdf

Compare to U.S. v. Emerson here: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/99/99-10331-cr0.htm

Main Emerson Page: http://www.saf.org/EmersonViewOptions.html

Bellesiles Page: http://www.saf.org/pub/rkba/general/GunsInEarlyAmerica.htm

News Coverage of case:

'Right to bear arms' decision would improve gun control (USA Today)
Wrong on rights (San Francisco Gate)
Showdown looming on right to own guns: Assault weapons ban upheld, putting court at odds with Ashcroft (San Francisco Gate)
A Gun-Shy Court? (Omaha World-Herald)
Gun-rights ruling seen as dare to high court (Washington Times)
The Nutty Ninth? (Times-Dispatch)
Did the Founders want us to have GUNS? (Mercury News)
Our view: Ruling on Second Amendment is absurd (Midland Daily News)
Anti-Gunners Expose True Agenda After Ninth Circuit Ruling (CNSnews)
Who’s Right on Second? Living, breathing decisions (National Review)
THINGS THE NINTH CIRCUIT'S SECOND AMENDMENT OPINION DOESN'T DISCUSS (Eugene Volokh)
Stance on Guns for Individuals Rejected: Court Slaps Down Ashcroft Policy (Washington Post)
Bearing arms should remain a personal right (Asheville Citizen-Times)
U.S. Appeals Court Upholds Limits on Assault Weapons (NY Times)
Appeals court kindles debate over meaning of 'right to bear arms' (AP Story)
Right to bear arms: an individual or collective right? (AP Story)
Court: Citizens have no right to own guns: Federal Panel in S.F. Addresses 2nd Amendment in Upholding State Ban on Assault Weapons (Mercury News)
Calif. ruling called gun-control landmark (UPI Story)
9th (Short) Circut Court (Newsmax)
'Landmark' Ruling Attacks Right to Bear Arms (Newsmax)
Gun lovers up in arms over ruling (San Francisco Gate)
Acting like God - again (WorldNetDaily)
Gunning for the courts (Washington Times)
Judicial excess (Denver Post)
An overdue rebuke for Ashcroft's gun crusade (Baltimore Sun)
Ready, Fire, Aim: The Ninth Circuit misses its mark, the Second Amendment (Wall Street Journal)
The Ninth Circus Court of Appeals Once Again Demonstrates Its Scholarship (Clayton Cramer)
Judge Reinhardt's Incredibly Ignorant Decision About the Second Amendment (Clayton Cramer)
Ninth Circus Will Be Overturned (Rush Limbaugh)
Court Upholds State Assault Weapons Ban (LA Times)
"Drop the Musket and Assume the Position!" -- December 8, 2002 (Lawpsided.com)