Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Members Sign 2nd Amendment Court Brief
Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 9:00 PMCongressional Sportsmen’s Caucus Members Sign 2nd Amendment Court Brief
Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation
Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Caucus Vice-Chair Sen. Jon Tester, along with CSC House Vice-Chair Rep. Mike Ross, and Rep. Mark Souder, joined together with 58 Senators and 251 House members in filing a bipartisan, bicameral amicus curiae brief asking the Supreme Court to hold the Second Amendment applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment in the case McDonald v. City of Chicago.
“The Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus really stepped up to the plate in further protecting our Second Amendment rights by working across party lines in filing this landmark brief,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation President Jeff Crane.
The McDonald v. City of Chicago case will decide whether the Second Amendment is a fundamental individual right that applies to states in the same way the Supreme Court found that it applied to the Federal government in last year’s District of Columbia v. Heller decision.
“Working together, we’re making our gun rights in this country stronger,” said Sen. Tester. “This isn’t about partisan politics. It’s about the rights all law-abiding Americans have under our Constitution, and those rights are always worth fighting for.”
CSC Senate Co-Chairs, Sen. Ben Nelson and Sen. Mike Crapo, and CSC House Co-Chairs Rep. Dan Boren and Rep. Paul Ryan led an effort to urge fellow members of the Congressional Sportsman’s Caucus to sign on to the brief.
“As an avid hunter, I believe the government has a limited role in regulating the ownership of guns,” said Nelson.
Last year, members of the Caucus joined in the filing a similar amicus brief in the District of Columbia v. Heller case in support of the Court upholding the Second Amendment as a fundamental, individual right.
“Banning guns will not keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but it will keep guns out of the hands of those trying to defend themselves against criminals,” said Rep. Ross. “The Supreme Court’s recent decision in District of Columbia v. Heller affirmed the right of D.C. residents to own and bear arms and I am optimistic these same rights will be extended to the law abiding citizens of Chicago and across the United States in McDonald v. the City of Chicago.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in February 2010.
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We can have the best wildlife habitat imaginable and a record number of people who buy fishing and hunting licenses, but it won’t matter if misguided laws and regulations are made at the federal and state levels that negatively impact our outdoor traditions. Keeping sportsmen’s issues front and center is what the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation does. Day in and day out, our sole focus is on providing a voice for sportsmen in the political arena. Serving as the first line of defense in protecting America’s outdoor traditions as well as promoting the sportsmen’s agenda through the collective muscle of sportsmen’s caucuses. Visit: www.sportsmenslink.org
