Second Amendment Lawsuits Expose Rift At The Top Of Gun Rights Movement

[SecularMotion]

WASHINGTON -- In the insular world of gun rights groups, Alan Gottlieb is a man on the make. Over the past five years, his Bellevue, Wash.-based nonprofit, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), has raced to expand gun rights, building on one of the most significant court rulings in decades. Now, Gottlieb is hoping to open the legal floodgates by litigating dozens of cases nationwide.

The December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., galvanized the public in support of gun control measures, but so far, the national conversation has revolved almost entirely around legislation. Many of the most significant changes to U.S. firearms law today are happening not in Congress, however, but in the courts.

Much of the SAF's reputation in the courtroom can be attributed to a Northern Virginia-based litigator, Alan Gura, who is best known for successfully arguing District of Columbia v. Heller before the Supreme Court. That landmark 2008 decision held that the Second Amendment protects the right of the individual, not just the state militia, to possess a gun.

Gura and Gottlieb teamed up after the Heller victory and filed more than 40 lawsuits, quickly establishing the SAF as a prolific player in Second Amendment litigation. In 2010, the duo scored a major win with a case they had initiated, McDonald v. Chicago, which extended the Heller decision to cover the states. In doing so, the Supreme Court overturned the Windy City's handgun ban, on the books for 28 years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/second-amendment-foundation_n_2745038.html

[friendly_iconoclast]

1. Not news to anyone who has been paying attention in the DU gun fora.

I'd like to see Gura and his associates take on "may-issue" laws, as they violate the Fourteenth Amendment.

[GreenStormCloud]

2. That is well known to gunners.

SAF is far more aggressive than the NRA. It was founded by a dissatisfied group from the NRA that viewed the organization as too weak. The NRA doesn't really like to go to the courts, instead preferring to use legislatures to accomplish its goals. Legislators are easier to pressure than judges. Further, if you lose a case in court then you have lost a legal battle for a long time, whereas legislators can be changed more quickly.

This is rather old news.

Between the NRA and the SAF this gives a one-two punch to gun control, so in effect they end up working together.

[Eleanors38]

3. Glad Huffpo finally caught up. Ho-hum.