As Harriet Miers Withdraws Her Nomination For The Supreme Court...
Gun owners must ask President Bush for a SOLID constitutionalist!
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Friday, October 28, 2005
You've no doubt heard the news: Harriet Miers withdrew her
nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court. From the little we have been
able to glean about her views and record, this is probably a good
thing for us.
So now we're back to square one -- the President will need to find a
replacement for the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Once again, we need to raise our voices and remind President Bush
that we do not want someone who is simply a friend of his but is,
rather, a friend of the Constitution.
In months past, news reports have indicated that Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales is currently on the President's "short list."
That's not encouraging. Readers can go to
http://www.gunowners.org/a071105.htm on the GOA webpage to see our
analysis of Gonzales' anti-gun record.
As we have previously reported, there are several sitting justices
who would make excellent choices for the new vacancy. For example,
Justice Janice Rogers Brown is one of the most recently confirmed
judges to the federal courts. Brown was confirmed by the Senate in
June by a 56-43 vote.
As a Justice on the California Supreme Court, Brown referred to
Roosevelt's New Deal as our "own socialist revolution." In
regard to
taxpayer supported welfare, she said that, "Theft is theft even when
the government approves of the thievery."
On gun rights, Brown sounds like a modern-day Annie Oakley. She used
language from an amicus curiae brief that was submitted by Gun Owners
of California to argue against Los Angeles' ban on gun shows.
And her most extensive Second Amendment scholarship appeared in the
case involving the California ban on semi-automatic firearms (Kassler
v. Lockyer). In a decision upholding the California ban on certain
semi-autos (the so-called "assault weapons"), she faulted the U.S.
Supreme Court for picking and choosing which rights it liked.
She most definitely came down on the right side, stating that the
individual right to keep and bear arms is a "right expressly
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."
There are other conservative judges who are currently on the federal
bench who also have a high regard for the U.S. Constitution. Judge
Samuel Alito, Jr., in the Third Circuit, has argued that Congress has
no right to regulate the private possession of machine guns. There
is Edith Jones in the Fifth Circuit who understands that our
"unalienable rights were given by God to all our fellow citizens."
And in the Ninth Circuit, Judge Alex Kozinski has chided his liberal
colleagues for falling prey to the popular delusion that we are
"better off leaving all weapons in the hands of professionals on the
government payroll." He cites chapter and verse, showing how gun
control has been used to subjugate blacks in the South, as well as
other minorities all across the world.
"All too many of the other great tragedies of history -- Stalin's
atrocities, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Holocaust, to name
but a few -- were perpetrated by armed troops against unarmed
populations," Kozinski said. "Many could well have been avoided or
mitigated, had the perpetrators known their intended victims were
equipped with a rifle and twenty bullets apiece, as the Militia Act
required here."
[To see Kozinski's entire dissenting opinion against the California
semi-auto ban, go to http://www.gunowners.org/op0326.htm on the GOA
website.]
Finally, there's also Justice Sam Cummings in the Fifth District. He
wrote the superb opinion in the Emerson case, which declared that Dr.
Timothy Emerson's Second Amendment rights were violated by a 1994 law
which prohibits persons under restraining orders from possessing
firearms. There is no appeal in such proceedings, and they often
amount to little more than a rubberstamp by a local magistrate.
The point should be clear. There are good judges who can fill the
void on the Court. Despite his friendship with Alberto Gonzales, the
President should be reminded that millions of people did not flock to
the polls to defeat Al Gore and John Kerry just so he could appoint
liberal anti-gunners to the high court.
ACTION: Please contact President Bush and urge him to nominate a
constitutionalist to the Supreme Court. And remind him that American
gun owners do NOT want Alberto Gonzales, or anyone like him, to sit
on the Court.
You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send the President the
pre-written message below. You can also contact the President using
any of the following mediums:
Comment line: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail: president@whitehouse.gov
--- Pre-written letter ---
Dear President Bush:
With the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination, you are once again
faced with a tremendous opportunity to appoint a SOLID constitutional
scholar who truly understands the rule of law and respects the Bill
of Rights.
I want to urge you, in the strongest of terms, to realize Alberto
Gonzales is NOT that man! As one who respects the Constitution and
the Bill of Rights (especially the Second Amendment), I hope that you
will not appoint someone who holds views similar to those of
Gonzales.
You made an excellent choice in putting Justice Janice Rogers Brown
on the federal bench. She understands the Second Amendment protects
an individual right, and she realizes that the Supreme Court is
supposed to interpret, not make, the laws.
I hope that you will nominate either her or someone like her to the
Supreme Court -- such as Judges Samuel Alito, Jr. (in the Third
District), Alex Kozinski (in the Ninth District), or Sam Cummings (in
the Fifth District). Thank you.
Sincerely,
Gun owners must ask President Bush for a SOLID constitutionalist!
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Friday, October 28, 2005
You've no doubt heard the news: Harriet Miers withdrew her
nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court. From the little we have been
able to glean about her views and record, this is probably a good
thing for us.
So now we're back to square one -- the President will need to find a
replacement for the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Once again, we need to raise our voices and remind President Bush
that we do not want someone who is simply a friend of his but is,
rather, a friend of the Constitution.
In months past, news reports have indicated that Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales is currently on the President's "short list."
That's not encouraging. Readers can go to
http://www.gunowners.org/a071105.htm on the GOA webpage to see our
analysis of Gonzales' anti-gun record.
As we have previously reported, there are several sitting justices
who would make excellent choices for the new vacancy. For example,
Justice Janice Rogers Brown is one of the most recently confirmed
judges to the federal courts. Brown was confirmed by the Senate in
June by a 56-43 vote.
As a Justice on the California Supreme Court, Brown referred to
Roosevelt's New Deal as our "own socialist revolution." In
regard to
taxpayer supported welfare, she said that, "Theft is theft even when
the government approves of the thievery."
On gun rights, Brown sounds like a modern-day Annie Oakley. She used
language from an amicus curiae brief that was submitted by Gun Owners
of California to argue against Los Angeles' ban on gun shows.
And her most extensive Second Amendment scholarship appeared in the
case involving the California ban on semi-automatic firearms (Kassler
v. Lockyer). In a decision upholding the California ban on certain
semi-autos (the so-called "assault weapons"), she faulted the U.S.
Supreme Court for picking and choosing which rights it liked.
She most definitely came down on the right side, stating that the
individual right to keep and bear arms is a "right expressly
guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."
There are other conservative judges who are currently on the federal
bench who also have a high regard for the U.S. Constitution. Judge
Samuel Alito, Jr., in the Third Circuit, has argued that Congress has
no right to regulate the private possession of machine guns. There
is Edith Jones in the Fifth Circuit who understands that our
"unalienable rights were given by God to all our fellow citizens."
And in the Ninth Circuit, Judge Alex Kozinski has chided his liberal
colleagues for falling prey to the popular delusion that we are
"better off leaving all weapons in the hands of professionals on the
government payroll." He cites chapter and verse, showing how gun
control has been used to subjugate blacks in the South, as well as
other minorities all across the world.
"All too many of the other great tragedies of history -- Stalin's
atrocities, the killing fields of Cambodia, the Holocaust, to name
but a few -- were perpetrated by armed troops against unarmed
populations," Kozinski said. "Many could well have been avoided or
mitigated, had the perpetrators known their intended victims were
equipped with a rifle and twenty bullets apiece, as the Militia Act
required here."
[To see Kozinski's entire dissenting opinion against the California
semi-auto ban, go to http://www.gunowners.org/op0326.htm on the GOA
website.]
Finally, there's also Justice Sam Cummings in the Fifth District. He
wrote the superb opinion in the Emerson case, which declared that Dr.
Timothy Emerson's Second Amendment rights were violated by a 1994 law
which prohibits persons under restraining orders from possessing
firearms. There is no appeal in such proceedings, and they often
amount to little more than a rubberstamp by a local magistrate.
The point should be clear. There are good judges who can fill the
void on the Court. Despite his friendship with Alberto Gonzales, the
President should be reminded that millions of people did not flock to
the polls to defeat Al Gore and John Kerry just so he could appoint
liberal anti-gunners to the high court.
ACTION: Please contact President Bush and urge him to nominate a
constitutionalist to the Supreme Court. And remind him that American
gun owners do NOT want Alberto Gonzales, or anyone like him, to sit
on the Court.
You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send the President the
pre-written message below. You can also contact the President using
any of the following mediums:
Comment line: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-Mail: president@whitehouse.gov
--- Pre-written letter ---
Dear President Bush:
With the withdrawal of Harriet Miers' nomination, you are once again
faced with a tremendous opportunity to appoint a SOLID constitutional
scholar who truly understands the rule of law and respects the Bill
of Rights.
I want to urge you, in the strongest of terms, to realize Alberto
Gonzales is NOT that man! As one who respects the Constitution and
the Bill of Rights (especially the Second Amendment), I hope that you
will not appoint someone who holds views similar to those of
Gonzales.
You made an excellent choice in putting Justice Janice Rogers Brown
on the federal bench. She understands the Second Amendment protects
an individual right, and she realizes that the Supreme Court is
supposed to interpret, not make, the laws.
I hope that you will nominate either her or someone like her to the
Supreme Court -- such as Judges Samuel Alito, Jr. (in the Third
District), Alex Kozinski (in the Ninth District), or Sam Cummings (in
the Fifth District). Thank you.
Sincerely,