Super Attorney Alan Gura, the Lead Lawyer for the Second Amendment Foundation, did not attend this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference held in Orlando, FL.
However, he did record a speech for the event that gives the gun community a brief but detailed status report on the SAF’s many ongoing legal battles, most notably, the fight to get the Supreme Court to rule on whether the Second Amendment extends beyond the home.
If you’re unfamiliar with Mr. Gura’s work, shame on you! Just kidding. But you should know who he is. I called him a “super attorney” for a reason.
Mr. Gura was the one who argued the landmark Heller case before the High Court (which struck down the D.C. handgun ban and explicated that self-defense within the home is covered under the 2nd Amendment) and represented the SAF in the Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. Chicago (which extended the Heller ruling to the states).
As we all know, there are “advocates” within the firearms and ammunition industry that talk a good game but when it comes time to actually do something, they disappear, and then there are the real professionals who get stuff done, Mr. Gura definitely falls into the latter category. He gets stuff – the important stuff that’s critical to the preservation of our right to keep and bear arms – done.
I encourage you to listen to his entire speech (it’s not that long, approximately 13 minutes), the central topic is concerning, as mentioned, whether or not the right to keep and bear arms extends beyond the home, which is essentially the same as saying, “do law-abiding citizens have the right to carry a firearm for self-defense in public?”
The Supreme Court has yet to explicitly address that question. And, according to Mr. Gura, “this issue is being heavily litigated” around the country (there are at least half a dozen cases out there that seek an answer to this question) and, due to the fact that there is no supreme ruling, “it’s being decided differently by different courts.”
Consequently, Mr. Gura expects the High Court to answer this question “in the near future.” Maybe in 2013, maybe.
Mr. Gura ends his speech with a very important point, the need for the pro-gun public to stay politically active. We need to demand that our lawmakers and more specifically our judges, “are committed to enforcing the whole Constitution whether they personally agree with it or not,” said Gura.
“We’d like to think that the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, but in reality, in the practical and for your daily life, the bill of rights means what judges tell you it means and judges in our country are a byproduct of the electoral process,” Mr. Gura warns. “Forget about 1791, the Second Amendment is on the ballot, this time, next time, every time.”
Indeed. The battle rages on. Thankfully, we have someone as competent and as intelligent as Mr. Gura at the helm. Let’s hope that 2013 turns out to be another great year for gun owners.
Q is known for breaking molds in the firearm industry, and The Fix is no exception. Check out this unique bolt-action rifle chambered in .308 Winchester.
Florida-based European American Armory has a new optics-ready BHP style pistol on the market with a lightweight alloy frame that gives the current micro-compact 9mm game a new darkhorse competitor.
Stoeger has kept calm and carried on with a line of low-key defensive autoloading shotguns for a while and the M3000 series feels—and performs—really well.
The FN15 TAC3 Duty is my idea of a perfect duty carry AR-15 platform rifle. It has the features I like, is customizable, accurate, and makes me look good!