Anti-defense lobby seeks to nullify Second Amendment when it’s needed most
“Brady Center Urges Court to Dismiss Lawsuit Seeking Right to Carry Guns During Riots and States of Emergency,” a Dec. 16 press release from the anti-gun group declares.
“The Second Amendment does not grant a right of vigilantes to take up arms on our streets during a riot or state of emergency,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
On this much, Helmke is correct: The Second Amendment grants no rights. It recognizes them, and declares they shall not be infringed. But on examination, the rest of the hysterical Brady claims fall apart.
The Brady Center’s brief argues that there is no right of armed vigilantes to take to the streets during riots or congregate in the vicinity of emergency responders trying to secure a downtown during riots, looting, or terrorist attacks. The prospect of police and emergency responders being powerless to stop bands of armed citizens from taking to the streets during emergencies, looting, or rioting poses a serious threat to the government’s ability to maintain public order and deliver emergency services. If the lawsuit were successful, law enforcement would be unable to detect whether roaming armed individuals or gangs were would-be looters, terrorists, or vigilantes, thus jeopardizing their safety and their ability to respond to states of emergency.
Many of us lived through the Los Angeles riots, and saw first-hand how “civil authority” ceded entire sections of the city—for days—to arsonists, looters, murderers, with nary a policeman in sight. And the world witnessed how in the hell that the streets had become, the Korean community banded together to protect themselves as government utterly failed and abandoned its core duties to protect life, liberty and property.
Harold
ACGR's "News with Attitude" 