“Amicus brief filed by Congress of Racial Equality in NRA / CRPA foundation supported lawsuit challenging San Diego county’s restrictive ccw policies,” CALGUNSLAWS.com announced Wednesday.
Today, May 25, 2011, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) filed a friend-of-the-court amicus brief in the Peruta case. The CORE brief emphasizes how the right to “bear arms” does not stop at one’s doorstep, and gives a historical analysis of the Fourteenth Amendment, discussing how discretionary firearms licensing laws were an incident of slavery.
The brief explains the civil rights group's involvement:
CORE's interest in this case stems from the fact that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self defense is an important civil right that was denied to African Americans under the antebellum Slave Codes, the Black Codes passed just after the Civil War, and under the Jim Crow regimes that persisted into the twentieth century.
Among the related arguments advanced:
- Having no right to bear arms was an incident of slavery
- The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states from banning the carrying of arms, including discretionary licensing laws that deny the right to the general public
- The Fourteenth Amendment was understood to guarantee the right to carry arms from state infringement, including discretionary licensing laws
- Infringement on the right to bear arms is actionable under the Civil Rights Act of 1871, 42 U.S.C. § 1983
CORE provides some fascinating history and insights, including this key narrative:
A year after passage, the Civil Rights Act was the subject of a report from President Grant to Congress which stated that parts of the South were under the control of Ku Klux Klans, the objects of which were "to deprive colored citizens of the right to bear arms and of the right to a free ballot…In debate on a bill to expand civil rights protection, Senator John Scott explained how Klansmen seized the firearms of their victims before lynching them…But Senator Pratt observed that the Klansman "fears the gun" of a man in his "humble fortress."…The Klan targeted the black who would "tell his fellow blacks of their legal rights, as for instance their right to carry arms and defend their persons and homes."
Opposing CORE and the appellants in this case is the Brady Center, which essentially argues there is no right to bear arms, and even if there is, denying it “is both reasonable and not unduly restrictive.”
Also see:
- CORE Amicus Curiae Brief
- Brady Center Amicus Curiae Brief
- Peruta v. County of San DiegoAppellant’s Opening Brief
- Peruta v. County of San DiegoWiki
- JPFO's 'No Guns for Negroes' exposes racism of 'gun control'
- Black man with a gun: Interview with Kenn Blanchard
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A self-fulfilling prophecy
Oregon Firearms Federation tells us, as predicted, that amendments have been introduced to neuter HB 2797, our bill to clarify how a person may lawfully transport a firearm on a motorcycle, ATV or snowmobile.
The amendments do several things, but as we expected, the principle (and most troubling) change is the effort to ban concealed carry on ALL school grounds including college property.
Click here to read the alert and to access the amendments.
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Help wanted--inquire within
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