ABC's Greenburg Gives 2nd Amendment Fair Shot

Photo of Mark Finkelstein.
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Could this photo be a first? It shows a card-carrying member of the MSM shooting a handgun. That's Jan Crawford Greenburg, an ABC News legal correspondent. The clip, pun intended, of Greenburg on the firing range was part of a segment she narrated on today's Good Morning America on a case to be argued before the Supreme Court today. At issue is the District of Columbia's law banning handguns. The case comes before the Supreme Court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. invalidated the law. The decision could be a landmark, potentially the first time the Supreme Court rules squarely on the issue of whether the Second Amendment establishes an individual right to bear arms.

The segment was surprisingly respectful of the right to bear arms. Beyond Greenburg's personal marksmanship demonstration, the segment began with a sympathetic depiction of the plight of Shelly Parker, the DC resident who started the case by suing the city over its gun ban.

View video here.

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JAN CRAWFORD GREENBURG: When a man tried to break into her house one night, Shelly Parker, a single woman living alone felt defenseless.

SHELLY PARKER: I had the alarm system, had the dog, and I was like, OK, my next step is I need some sort of firearm.

GREENBURG: Parker lives in Washington, DC, one of the nation's most violent cities, with the country's toughest gun laws. It bans handguns, and requires shotguns be kept locked and unloaded. Parker says that puts her in danger. She is suing the city.

PARKER: The criminals have guns. If you're a law-abiding citizen, the law in DC says you do not have a gun.

GREENBURG: The Supreme Court today will hear Parker's case and decide one of the great unresolved constitutional questions: does the Second Amendment protect an individual's right to keep and bear arms or does it only protect a state's right to have a well-regulated militia?

Cut to Greenburg squeezing off two shots from what looked like a revolver [that I'm sure some astute NB readers will be able to identify as to make, model and caliber]. Gun still in hand and protective glasses on, she continued.

GREENBURG: If the court strikes down the law, officials predict thousands of people in the nations's capital will buy handguns. That worries Washingtons' mayor.

ADRIAN FENTY [DC Mayor]: There are enough handguns on our streets. One can only imagine what would happen if you put even more guns in the streets of the city.

GREENBURG: Now to show you what kind of case this is, how big it is, there are hundreds of people waiting in line inside the courtroom, they've been camping out for two days. Now the stakes are huge. If the court upholds DC's gun ban, officials think cities across the country are going to try to pass similar tough new gun laws of their own.

To answer Mayor Fenty's question as to "what would happen" if the law is overturned, the answer is that law-abiding citizens would have a chance to defend themselves against the criminals who, law enforcement aside, are the only people bearing guns on DC streets.

But back to Jan Crawford. Who would have imagined? An MSM segment in no way hostile to the right to keep and bear arms, with even a not-so-subtle suggestion from the reporter that the right is one she personally values. Good on Greenburg.

Note: Crawford Greenburg is the author of Supreme Conflict, an inside look at the workings of the high court that the Wall Street Journal has described as a "tour de force."

—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.


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Remarkable Constitution

We have a remarkable constitution.  Rights that are explicitly in the Constitution such as the right to bear arms turn out to not to be in the Constitution at all.

Other rights, such as the right to an abortion, that aren't in the Constitution, turn out to be in the Constitution after all. We just had to read deeply.

Into the shadows.

The penumbra.  The founders put it there, it just takes special judges to be able to read it. 

 

"The future is not set.  There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."

michaelyon-online.com

Good point.

After the NIU shootings, there was a letter to the editor in our local paper (The Daily Press, Virginia) written by a fellow who thought that there should be a nation-wide ban on guns, because they are so dangerous.

With remarkable restraint, I managed to respond politely to his ideas in my own letter, and mentioned that many on the left believe that health care, college education, and abortions are Constitutional rights, but want to ignore a right that is so important that it is number 2, beat out only by the guarantee of free speech, petition, and religion.  And my letter was published in the paper.

Great minds think alike, allanf! 

 

Nebraskans for War: Peace through Strength

Post us a copy?  Im

Post us a copy?  Im always happy when the good guys win or get thier opinions published.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

Here it is.

 Good Morning, Dan.  I'm sorry about the long post!  I don't know how to link like in the Shrub Report. :)

First letter:

Every day we hear in Virginia of the death or injury of a citizen by gunshot. We have got to wake up to the fact that we are a very violent nation.

In Washington, D.C., citizens want to reverse the ban on carrying arms because they feel threatened. What on Earth are these people afraid of, their own shadows? Or can't they trust their neighbors? We don't need guns of any sort, not even for sporting events. Guns are designed and manufactured for one purpose only –– to kill.

The time has come for our nation to close all gun shops throughout the country, and for a national amnesty to be invoked whereby all current gun owners could hand their weapons to the police for a reward.

Yes, the National Rifle Association, gun advocates and manufacturers would scream their heads off, so let them. The safety of our citizens is far more important than their selfish claim that their Second Amendment rights would be violated.

Michael J. Doust

http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-ed_wedltrs_02271feb27,0,4251923.story

And here was my response:

In his letter to the editor "Do away with guns," Feb. 27, Michael Doust gave me permission to scream, so scream I shall. The citizens in Washington, D.C., want to reverse the ban on firearms because they are afraid of the criminals with guns, not their own shadows. That's right: The criminals have guns, despite a ban on firearms. Isn't it shocking?

Doust leaves several questions unanswered. Would the police have guns? Would the military have guns? If not, how would we as a nation defend ourselves? And Doust concedes that we are a violent nation. Would he propose a ban on knives or baseball bats as well?

It amazes me that many on the left believe that health care, abortions and a college education are constitutional rights, but want to take away the right to bear arms, which is so important that it is No. 2 on the list, surpassed only by the rights of religion, free speech, assembly, free press and petition.

I have six succinct words for Doust –– "out of my cold, dead fingers."

Sarah Anne Hoyt

http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-ed_wedltrs_03051mar05,0,6873375.story

Nebraskans for War: Peace through Strength

Nice. But I sure hope there

Nice. But I sure hope there is not a cameraman behind the camera filming her. If there is, you've got an excellent documented case of two idiots and a gun, and an excellent example of "what, firearms safety, what's that?"

Blanks

I dare say she was firing blanks. She fires two rounds, opens the chamber before setting the firearm down and turning around to face the other camera. There are no dark spots on that rather close target indicating she hit it. If she missed it, she probably shouldn't have the weapon in the first place.

I really think that questioning others' masculinity is a game probably better left to people who haven't had more cock in and out of them than a Tyson Chicken regional distribution center. AceOfSpades 06162007

I'm surprised and

I'm surprised and disappointed that instead of celebrating the fact that a reporter is giving the Second Amend. an even break and even putting in her own not-so-subtle plug for it, people here seem to prefer to second-guess and nitpick matters.

NewsBusters has done its

NewsBusters has done its job too well...cultivating a website full of media cynics.

Jer

Experience with antigun media bigotry

Might also have a tiny something to do with the attitude Mark decries...
JMR

A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.

Maybe we've gone too far in

Maybe we've gone too far in raising the collective consciousness ;-) But seriously, some people can't take 'yes' for an answer.

The bigotry-experience I mentioned

LONG predates widespread adoption of the internet as a communications medium. Therefore, it also predates the birth of NB, by a longshot...
JMR

A corruption-story the TV media will-not cover.

Just pointing out another

Just pointing out another 'staged' video by the MSM! But, maybe the blanks were an attempt at uber-safety on her, or her producer's, part.

I really think that questioning others' masculinity is a game probably better left to people who haven't had more cock in and out of them than a Tyson Chicken regional distribution center. AceOfSpades 06162007

to give her a fair shake

I hadn't fired a pistol in over 5 years when I picked up my XD 45 a little over a year ago. before that, I'd owned a DAO 9mm handgun and a 22WMR auto pistol. Because of a close-to-minimun-wage job and later student loan payback, I could afford range fees and ammo maybe a couple of times a year.

With the 45 it took me two clips to get on paper. The long trigger pull didn't help either. And I had an idea what to expect.

Sadly, things haven't changed much so I still rarely get to the range but at least I can manage center-of-mass at 25 feet or less.:(

Now hand an unseasoned reporter a DAO revolver and a target 50 feet our and I can pretty much guarantee there would be a clean miss and, with a large enough target, holes very low and to the left.

Well, you can tell where my so-called "stimulus package rebate" is going!

(Stop the War, man! it's causing .223 ammo to cost too much! :P )

"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".

I did not watch the video,

I did not watch the video, but the photo appears to suggest that she is leaning back instead of leaning forward.  I was taught that you lean forward, on the balls of your feet, knees slightly bent, legs a comfortable distance apart, and both eyes open.  I also wear a hat and a shirt done all of the way up.  Hot brass in your shirt is not a good feeling.

Hot brass "amber"?

you weren't dating a guy up around Tacoma Washington slightly less than ten years ago who owned a M1 Carbine? :P

A young lady dating a friend of mine found out the hard way about hot brass that day as we were shooting out on a makeshift range...she'd come dressed for the hot weather with a baseball cap and swimsuit top with ample cleavage displayed...well, the M1 carbine ejects brass vertically...and what goes up must come down.

Needless to say her boyfriend wasted no time in jumping to retrieve the hot brass..IIRC he took awhile to recover it tho..:P

 

 

"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".

I did watch

Another indication she was not experienced was the way she put down the revolver (after minute 1). She hastily plopped it down pointing off to the left. At my range, she'd be chewed out for poor muzzle control. It should be pointed downrange whether loaded, unloaded, or loaded with blanks.

My guess is a S&W 357 with

My guess is a S&W 357 with a 6 inch barrel.  Don't really know, I am not into revolvers.

But, girls with guns are hot (although she'd be even hotter with a Desert Eagle)!

Ruths, I do think it is a

Ruths, I do think it is a S&W Model 10. New ones come in .38 +P, but I do think that she was using a light load, maybe a .38 special, or a rare .38 cal. There was no recoil when she fired, not much anyway. May have been a blank, just for the show.

Save a SeAL, club a liberal!!

I didn't watch the video

I didn't watch the video (have now). It's obvious that she has some experience shooting. And you are right, the recoil is not a magnum recoil. Now I am really interested, perhaps Mark F. could send her an email asking for the particulars (she might respond to him, would probably tell me to get lost).

Not to be a nitpicker...

but since it's been brought up, that may well have been blanks because it doesn't look like a lot recoil for what looks like a .38 (not a big revolver guy). However you can tell it's an edit when they cut from the close up on the gun being fired to a her standing there.

I'm all warm and gushy now

I'm thinking they were blanks as well. Target was awfully close and I'd hate to think she couldn't hit it at that range. I'm a new user of handguns and recently received my concealed carry permit. I'm anxiously awaiting the outcome of this lawsuit. It never really seemed fair that only those with bad intentions are the ones with firearms. I like the idea of not being a victim.

Possible Caption

A possible caption for the photo:

You've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, Dan?

Cobra.... LMAO...  Perf

Cobra....

LMAO... 

Perfect!

ABCing The Light?

Is ABC News tilting away from its usual leftist leaning? Maybe the Fox effect?  This story along with last nights "good news from Iraq" story and breaking the news about Obama's hate-America pastor are not exactly the hallmarks of left wing media. What's going on here?  We can only hope for the more of the same.

This is not a real surprise

JCB is a real professional and tends to be very fair, just look to her book on the Supreme Court. Very well done.

 

 

J. Weaver

scoffery.com

easy decision

That should be about a 10 second Supreme Court case. "Does the DC law violate the constitution? Yes. Throw out the law. Case closed."

scanning the skies

OK, I'm still waiting for the porcine air force to fly by in formation (no less).

I bet she doesn't last long. Hopefully Fox will pick up her contract when they street her for not being 'main stream'. John Stossel could do with a buddy on his show as well.

Not convinced they were blanks

I recall my first big crush was one I had on a girl I saw throw a football like a guy.  The video brought back those memories.

 

Those who have not swords can still die upon them.

Credit where credit is due

It's important to give the MSM credit when they get it right, so I'm glad to see this post here.

Greenburg's ABCNews bio says she's a native of Alabama.  Kinda figures, doesn't it? 

When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.