On Friday, Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the city of Washington D.C. could not ban its citizens from owning firearms because such a ban violates the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In light of this ruling so damaging to gun grabbers everywhere, I was curious to see how the wires were handling the news. Turns out, they don't seem too happy.
In two reports on Friday the AP gave far more time in their "balanced" report to opponents to Second Amendment rights than they did to proponents. Worse, it never seemed to occur to them to report that gun violence in Washington D.C. has consistently ranked as among the highest in the country despite being one of the strictest anti-gun cities therein.
In their short report on the ruling, the AP even casts the quote of an unnamed N.R.A. official and Second Amendment supporter in negative terms.
An official of the National Rifle Association says the decision gives D-C "a crack in the door to join the rest of the country" in what he calls "full constitutional freedom."
You can just hear the venom in their "in what he calls" line. Of course, D.C. Mayor Fenty's critical comments were reported straight with no qualifying terms applied.
The APs longer report on the ruling was even more interesting.
They quoted the dissenting judge, Karen Henderson, as saying the Second Amendment doesn't apply in D.C. because "it is not a state". Here they make no comment on what this could men if taken to its fullest extent: that the Constitution is entirely null and void in D.C. because it "is not a state". But, they do go out of their way to explain the "reasonable restrictions" on gun ownership.
Such restrictions might include gun registration, firearms testing to promote public safety or restrictions on gun ownership for criminals or those deemed mentally ill.
So, it's "reasonable" to help explain the gun grabber's "reasonable restrictions", but NOT reasonable to give Second Amendment supporters even one line in the larger story to air their points.
Reuters also got into the anti-gun game with their report.
In a fairly long report that reveals the "outrage" and "disappointment" and "criticism" of the ruling, Reuters only had room for one line devoted to supporters of this ruling.
Additionally, Reuters seemed to want to intimate that Judge Silberman was but a puppet of the Bush administration.
Silberman embraced the position that the Bush administration has advocated -- that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms.
Guess it couldn't just be judge Silberman's honest opinion, huh? I have never seen an AP or Reuters report that claimed that a ruling from the left was a result of the "Clinton Administration" embracing an idea. No, when the decision comes from the left it is merely reported as a decision and is never linked with any left leaning power structure.
As I briefly mentioned above, it is interesting that not one of the reports I've come across mentions that Washington D.C. has consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in America despite its draconian gun banning laws.
In 2005, for instance, Washington DC was among the top five most dangerous US cities with a population of 500,000 or more.
Interesting how no mention is made of this fact. Interesting how the high crime rate is never contrasted with the gun ban laws. Of course, we know why. If these facts were ever brought together it would make a joke out of the very idea of gun bans. After all, if D.C. has the most strict gun laws in the country, why are they still so dangerous a place to be?
Shhhh. Let's just keep that inconvenient little fact to ourselves, eh? We'll have to, anyway. Because neither Reuters nor the AP will help spread the truth it seems.



















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Whiners
March 9, 2007 - 22:55 ET by UnsaneSay! Aren't these the SAME PEOPLE who constantly whine about how the evil Bush administration repealed the Bill of Rights?
Yet, it seems that they HATE that damned inconvenient Amendment #2!
"The law is far, the fist is near." - Korean proverb
I will never understand why a
March 9, 2007 - 23:08 ET by mostlymoderateI will never understand why anybody is so concerned with my right to own a gun. Don't break into my house and you won't meet my gun.
This is GREAT news!I cannot
March 9, 2007 - 23:08 ET by bigtimerThis is GREAT news!
I cannot believe it!
Thanks WTH for this update!
I am just plain amazed!
I can just hear the screams now form the loony left in DC!
I am so tickled!
Well D.C. up to this point wa
March 9, 2007 - 23:11 ET by BlazerWell D.C. up to this point was a fine example of how " if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns". Now we just have to brace ourselves for the MSM to portray some D.C. convict as a victim, after getting shot trying to rape, or rob somoene.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
The D.C. mayor said that unti
March 9, 2007 - 23:17 ET by ThisnThatThe D.C. mayor said that until an appeal is ruled on, the citizens can be assured that "we will vigorously enforce the current gun control laws". Convicts can rest easy. Whew! That was close.
Does that include Marion Barr
March 9, 2007 - 23:23 ET by bigtimerDoes that include Marion Barry...
....as the convict..or have they made him Mayor again....
LMAO!
He's "Da Man"
March 9, 2007 - 23:29 ET by ThisnThatHe's "Da Man"
"You will never find a
March 9, 2007 - 23:25 ET by jonathananderson"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. " - Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
Damn right.
Lawful citizens will finally be able to defend themselves in D.C. ... nothing makes a thief look for another target better than an armed citizen who's ready to use his gun in self-defense.
Speaking of the above quote,
March 10, 2007 - 03:10 ET by Tony SSpeaking of the above quote, Blazer, I live near the DC area, and there has been a rash of knife and machette attacks, likely due to gangs. When the Wash. Post reported on this, one smart alecs posted a message to their online stories twisting that saying to "When knives are outlawed, only outlaws will have knives!" Not all DC-ers or Post readers are anti-second amendment.
At 11:00pm Friday evening, I
March 9, 2007 - 23:14 ET by ThisnThatAt 11:00pm Friday evening, I could not find the story on CNN.com. I wonder why?
Fox reports a comment from the D.C. mayor: he said the decision "flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence." Huh?? What kind of decrease has been reported in the 30+ years gun control has been in effect in D.C.? I musta missed that big story this year.
"Fox reports a comment
March 10, 2007 - 02:53 ET by ckc1227"Fox reports a comment from the D.C. mayor: he said the decision "flies in the face of laws that have helped decrease gun violence."
When I saw him say this, I ALMOST fell out of my chair because he was able to say it and keep a straight face at the same time.
Reminder: Don't forget to pay your taxes. 12 million illegal immigrants are counting on you.
All those bastards did was ta
March 9, 2007 - 23:18 ET by jonathanandersonAll those bastards did was take guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens and leave them in the hands criminals (when they enacted that Nazi-esque law).
Hopefully though, increased gun availability won't put President Bush in danger.
I'm all FOR gun-control ... if it disarms liberals, Democrats, and criminals (and keeps conservatives armed).
Scary dissent
March 9, 2007 - 23:25 ET by nkviking75They quoted the dissenting judge, Karen Henderson, as saying the Second Amendment doesn't apply in D.C. because "it is not a state". Here they make no comment on what this could men if taken to its fullest extent: that the Constitution is entirely null and void in D.C. because it "is not a state".
I'd love to know if she'd grant the enemy combatants in Gitmo the same rights as US Citizens. That would give them more status under the Constitution than Washingtonians. This line of "logic" has an air of desperation about it, IMHO.
I love guns as much as I lo
March 9, 2007 - 23:27 ET by wiwfI love guns as much as I love eating meat and watching action movies.
I like how liberals think the 2nd amendment is interepreted differently than the entire rest of the constitution. People=militia when it comes to 2nd amendment, and ONLY the 2nd amendment.
Guns are awesome.
If everybody had a gun and kn
March 9, 2007 - 23:30 ET by mostlymoderateIf everybody had a gun and knew how to use it, there would be less criminals!
Absolutely! Ask the nearest
March 10, 2007 - 23:06 ET by UnsaneAbsolutely! Ask the nearest Leftist why Switzerland has no crime, or why street crime in Israel is a rare thing.
They WILL NOT like the answer.
"The law is far, the fist is near." - Korean proverb
Unsane, Maybe the Swi
March 12, 2007 - 11:55 ET by JoeBobUnsane,
Maybe the Swiss aren't the models we would hope to hold them up to be.
"Interior ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles but no ammunition." (emphasis mine)
Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. - Confucious
Surrey citizen in leisure suit
March 9, 2007 - 23:39 ET by CarpareusDespite seemingly semi- contradictory data WA is a must issue state. Subject to a lengthening list of exclusory convictions of course 8D.
Carp
p.s.lurking on Clearwire
p.p.s. what do you call the individual in the Surrey courtroom wearing a liesure suit? the defendant.
In a related alAP story, a re
March 10, 2007 - 03:53 ET by jdhawkIn a related alAP story, a reporter, who asked to remain anonymous, stated that the criminal element in D.C. was extremely anxious over this ruling. Further, they stated that if citizens use guns against them when they are involved in their criminal acts, that they will sue that citizen, the D.C. government and its mayor should they come to any harm.
In still other news, criminals in local D.C. jails asked that when it was their turn to be released, that they be released in other than D.C. that they now claim is hostile to their livelihood. Others are complaining that their friends and family are in the local D.C. area, that it is expensive to relocate in view of these recent events, and is D.C. going to pay for their relocation costs. Still others, who have longer sentences to serve, are attempting to reach Marion ‘the crack head” Barry, to find out if and when this ruling can be turned around. They stated that there is some white powdery substance in it for the first D.C. politician that can get this ruling overturned.
What I find funny (and even
March 10, 2007 - 03:58 ET by sarcasmoWhat I find funny (and even Harvard Law Prof. Lawrence Tribe doesn't get this one) is how the left seems to think the Founders would have shoved a group-right into the individual-rights area of the Bill of Rights. They (and Lawrence Tribe, too) know it's not true, and know that self-defense is an individual right which predates the very idea of mankind coming together in groups to have laws & form governments. Sadly, there's still much work left to do on this issue, but I look forward to DC becoming a less-violent place & the media desperately-grasping for some other explanation when it happens. (And I miss Howard Nemerov today!)
JMR
Agree / Disagree
March 11, 2007 - 02:22 ET by securityGood question... but we only
March 11, 2007 - 02:56 ET by Warner Todd HustonGood question... but we only needed this one!
Let's hope it gets to the SCOTUS and we can get a more final verdict.
Let's hope they're not as b
March 11, 2007 - 03:08 ET by sarcasmoLet's hope they're not as blatantly-stupid this time as they were in U.S. vs Miller, where -- in an astounding leap of "logic" -- the Supremes managed to deem a sawed-off shotgun somehow not-suitable for use by a member of a militia as described in the Bill of Rights. I can speculate on the origin of the mushrooms on their pizza that night, but it probably goes without saying.....
JMR
For that matter, let's hope t
March 11, 2007 - 03:47 ET by Warner Todd HustonFor that matter, let's hope they don't do a Campaign finance reform twist on us. I NEVER would have expected them to rule in favor of McCain-Feingold!
Neither did the guy who mis
March 11, 2007 - 03:58 ET by sarcasmoNeither did the guy who missed the chance to veto that piece of (I'll say "garbage," but we all know the word I'm thinking). I think it might help the Supremes culturally, and therefore also help America generally, if the Supreme Court were relocated to somewhere (perhaps even varying locations every few years) outside the beltway. Mere proximity to that much power & big-government seems to slowly-corrupt a person's reasoning-ability. My hope is that closer proximity to the rest of us might serve to restore it.
JMR
The saddest thing to me with
March 11, 2007 - 04:05 ET by Warner Todd HustonThe saddest thing to me with that whole mess is that it revealed that, for all the anti-American left's claims that Bush is trying to rule by fiat and be a tyrant, he has, in reality, abdicated much of his power to the courts.
But, he isn't alone. the whole of Congress has come to give the SCOTUS FAR too much power.
If I may chime in, how about
March 12, 2007 - 12:01 ET by JoeBobIf I may chime in, how about Kelo as one of the most egregious twistings of Constitutional content?
Without recognizing the ordinances of Heaven, it is impossible to be a superior man. - Confucious