In typical, "screw your friends and appease your enemies," Republican fashion, the
Bush Justice Department has filed an amicus brief defending the DC gun ban in the DC
v. Heller case currently before the Supreme Court.  The Justice Department calls on
the Court to acknowledge the Second Amendment as an individual right, but asks that
the Circuit Court's decision in the case be reversed and remanded (thrown out and
sent back to the Circuit Court) with instructions to determine whether DC's laws
unreasonably restrict resident's ability to exercise their rights.  It appears that
the "pro-gun," Republican Department of Justice fears that any decision from the
Supreme Court which held that banning any class of weapons was an infringement of
the Second Amendment, might open the door to challenges against bans on dreaded
machineguns.

It is worth noting that Congress recognized back in 1934 that banning machineguns
would be a violation of the Second Amendment so they instead devised a plan whereby
they could control such firearms with burdensome taxes and paperwork restrictions.
It was not until 1986 that the first ever federal firearms ban was enacted when NRA
accepted a ban on private purchase or possession of any newly manufactured
machineguns as an amendment to the McClure-Volkmer, Firearms Owner's Protection Act.
At that time, NRA-ILA chief, Wayne LaPierre declared that repeal of the machinegun
ban would be NRA's top priority in the next session of Congress.  Even though Mr.
LaPierre has been the Chief Executive Officer of the organization for more than 15
years now and receives a compensation totaling more than a million dollars a year,
no bill to repeal the '86 ban has ever been put forward by NRA.

If the Supreme Court follows the government's request in this matter, no firm
decision about the practical value of the Second Amendment could be expected for at
least another four years; many thousands of dollars, and at least two new Justices
from now. Republican politicians and operatives across the country need to hear and
feel the wrath of GunVoters over this latest in a long list of betrayals from our
oh-so-reliable, pro-gun friends.  Write to the President, the Vice-President, your
Republican Senators and Representatives, your local Republican officials and your
County Central Committee and let them know that your anger will be reflected at the
ballot box. This is just another example of why Republicans like Rudy Giuliani, Mitt
Romney, and John McCain are completely unacceptable presidential candidates and why
Republicans are likely to lose the Presidency and additional Congressional seats due
to a poor showing from GunVoters in the coming elections.

******************* We will continue to keep you informed about the important events
in the gun rights fight.  Thank you for staying on the front lines and helping us
play a role.  If you do not currently subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter, The
Hard Corps Report, or have not made a contribution to our cause recently, we would
appreciate your help right now.  Contributions can be made through our web site:
www.FirearmsCoalition.org, over the phone at 703-753-0424, or by mail to The
Firearms Coalition, PO Box 3313, Manassas, VA  20108.

Your support is the only way we can stay in the fight so please help if you can.


Yours for the Second Amendment,


 Jeff
Jeff Knox
The Firearms Coalition
www.FirearmsCoalition.org


P.S. Special thanks to Dave Hardy, Second Amendment scholar and good friend
(http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/2008/01/government_file.php) for alerting us to
this important development and giving us the, "screw your friends and appease your
enemies," quote.  JAK
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