Gun rights compared
to civil rights
Groups demand Ashcroft enforce 2nd Amendment in states
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By Jon Dougherty
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
In what observers are calling a novel approach against gun control, two groups have launched a petition drive to force the Department of Justice to enforce gun rights with the same zeal it enforced civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
The groups – Citizens of America and KeepAndBearArms.com – say they would like to see Attorney General John Ashcroft back his earlier voiced support for the Second Amendment with action.
"Mr. Ashcroft says the right to bear arms is an individual right," says Brian Puckett, head of COA, "and we're saying if that's so, then he should be enforcing that right in states where our right to keep and bear arms is being denied, in the same way the federal government enforced civil-rights laws in the '50s and '60s.
"Denial of rights is costing lives, not simply forcing people to drink from separate water fountains or go to segregated schools, and we want action, not more words," he added.
"On many occasions the U.S. Justice Department has sent teams of lawyers to force states, municipalities, agencies and officials to obey civil-rights statutes, resulting in laws being overturned and in legal actions against individuals," said a statement published on the KABA website.
Officials from both groups say they are targeting California first because it is the nation's most populous state and has some of the most authoritarian gun-control laws on the books.
"A big concern is that people will think this only applies to California – it doesn't," David Codrea, co-founder of COA, told WorldNetDaily. "If we're successful, precedent will be set for the entire nation, or a Supreme Court case will be initiated, so it's important for people from every state to know they have a stake in the outcome."
"California is the state we chose because it is the largest in population, has tremendous political influence and has many gun 'laws' that are blatantly unconstitutional," said a KABA statement. "However, if we are successful, the precedent set in this action would affect all states."
"It is time to establish once and for all that we have a right to own and use guns, that we can't be required to be licensed or registered, and don't need some bureaucrat's permission to own them," said the statement.
In a May 17 response letter to National Rifle Association officials, Ashcroft said that as attorney general, it was his opinion that the "text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."
But California and other states have, over the years, banned weapons that were previously protected by law and by the Supreme Court, the groups say. Weapons that aren't banned outright require registration with state and federal agencies – an "infringement" that is in violation of the right to own guns, both groups say.