by Stephen P. Halbrook
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, explained U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, by letter dated May 17, 2001, to James Jay Baker, Executive Director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action. The Violence Policy Center, a lobbying organization which seeks to ban guns, has responded with a superficial attack entitled Shot Full of Holes: Deconstructing John Ashcroft's Second Amendment.
The
VPC document combines
flawed historical
interpretation with
hysteria, such as that
Ashcroft's views would
protect "armed career
criminals" in their
deadly pursuits. While
the Fourth Amendment
right against
unreasonable search and
seizure and other Bill
of Rights guarantees
protect even criminals,
no one disputes that
such criminals have no
right to keep and bear
arms. Indeed, the
Ashcroft Justice
Department has launched
a vigorous campaign --
absent in the Reno
Department -- against
felons who possess
firearms. On
assuming office,
Attorney General
Ashcroft took an oath to
support and defend the
Constitution, which
includes the Second
Amendment. From the
standpoint of legal
ethics, it is admirable
when prosecuting
authorities candidly
concede that they or
their predecessors took
an erroneous position
regarding the law, for
their duty is to see
that justice is done,
not to win cases at any
price. Yet VPC has filed
an ethics complaint
against Ashcroft for
expressing in good faith
(and with persuasive
documentation) an
opinion about a
provision of the Bill of
Rights.
Click above to see
and read General
Ashcroft's
Letter.
VPC purports to refute Ashcroft's
two-page letter on the Second
Amendment, but VPC's silence on
the Constitution's text is
deafening. The Second Amendment
provides: "A well regulated
militia, being necessary for the
security of a free state, the
right of the people to keep and
bear arms, shall not be
infringed." This "right of the
people" is not limited, as VPC
claims, to actual service in a
state military force. The Framers
knew how to limit a right to
actual service -- the Fifth
Amendment provides for indictment
by grand jury "except in cases
arising . . . in the militia,
when in actual service . . .
."
More Like This From Around The NRA
