This bodes well if a 2A case ever comes to bear at the feet of the supreme court...


www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/26/scalia.hunting.ap/index.html


Scalia addresses wild-turkey hunters
Supreme Court justice: Change attitude about use of firearms

Sunday, February 26, 2006; Posted: 5:11 p.m. EST (22:11 GMT)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia fondly remembers carrying a rifle around New York City as a boy and says outdoorsmen should attack the idea that guns are only used for crimes.

An avid outdoorsmen who's hunted with Vice President Dick Cheney, Scalia spoke Saturday at the National Wild Turkey Federation's annual convention.

"The attitude of people associating guns with nothing but crime, that is what has to be changed," Scalia told the audience of about 2,000.

"I grew up at a time when people were not afraid of people with firearms," said Scalia, noting that as a youth in New York City he was part of a rifle team at the military school he attended.

"I used to travel on the subway from Queens to Manhattan with a rifle," he said. "Could you imagine doing that today in New York City?"

Scalia was criticized in 2004 for hunting ducks with Cheney while the Supreme Court was considering a case involving Cheney's energy task force. (Full story)

This month, a lawyer hunting with Cheney in Texas was wounded when he stepped in the way as Cheney fired at a bird.

The nonprofit turkey federation is dedicated to conserving wild turkeys and preserving hunting traditions.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Well thats one Gov. Offical on our side. Maybe they can influence more.  We can only hope.

Quoted: Well thats one Gov. Offical on our side. Maybe they can influence more.  We can only hope.

He might be on our side.  Depends on if his views only extend to "sporting" rifles and shotguns.

-Ben

True, but if he is saying how people need to get (That all guns are used thugs) out of there heads he is more open minded then most.

Quoted: He might be on our side.  Depends on if his views only extend to "sporting" rifles and shotguns.-Ben

Big +1.  This is why it is important to learn the whole truth about any self proclaimed "pro-gun" political candidate.  George Bush (41) was "pro-gun" and gave us an EO that banned import of "non-sporting" rifles.  That EO was the foundation for the 1994 AWB.  And although the 10 year AWB expired the EO still stands.  George Bush (43), also self proclaimed pro-gun, has the authority to recind the EO but won't.

Some will claim that Bush 43 has done a lot for gun owner's rights.  What a sham.  All he did was sign a bill that everyone else did the leg work on.  If that's your idea of "pro-gun" we have different understandings of the rights of free Americans.  

Gun enthusiasts don't need a passivist "pro-gun" president.  What does the prefix "pro-" mean.  "Pro-" means "to move forward, advancing towards."  A Pro-gun candidate means a pro-active gun candidate.  

We had two such candidates in the last presidential election.  TWO candidates swore to recind all previous anti-gun presidential EO's and actively pursue repeal of the GCA and NFA.  Neither of these candidates won the election and the majority of voters, even so-called pro-gun voters, never even heard of them.  

Am I ranting again?  You bet.  These are the words of a single issue voter.  Because without the right to defend yourself, defend yourelf well, none of the other rights matter.  Rights to speech, peaceful assembly, privacy, due cause, representation, et-cetera ad nauseum don't matter if you don't have the teeth to bite the hands that will take away.  Guns are liberty's teeth.
{/rant}
The good news in the posted CNN story is that Scalia carried a [military training] rifle and was educated a military school.  

Trust me, he's solidly on our side (not just for sporting guns). If you look at his general jurisprudence and decision-making criteria, as well as some statements that both he and Thomas (who thinks a lot like Scalia on most issues) have made...he'll be an ally on any 2nd Amendment case.