The ACLU's hypocritical position on the Second Amendment
By Brian S. Stewart
Gun rights advocates have long charged that the ACLU are left-wing activists first, “civil rights advocates” a very distant second. The organization has confirmed it with this position, and buried their collectivist heads in the sand. It should come as no surprise, as a trip to their website quickly confirms.
“Majority power is limited by the Constitution's Bill of Rights, which consists of the original ten amendments ratified in 1791, plus the three post-Civil War amendments (the 13th, 14th and 15th) and the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage), adopted in 1920.The mission of the ACLU is to preserve all of these protections and guarantees:
- Your First Amendment rights - freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.
- Your right to equal protection under the law - equal treatment regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
- Your right to due process - fair treatment by the government whenever the loss of your liberty or property is at stake.
- Your right to privacy - freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into your personal and private affairs.”
Despite claiming that their mission is to “preserve all of these protections and guarantees”, can you notice which right is glaringly omitted? There is absolutely no mention of the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.
Washington D.C. recently passed emergency legislation in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling, and gun rights advocates are filing lawsuits in other anti-gun cities such as Chicago. Collective rights theorists have been undercut by the Supreme Court of the United States, and will likely find their lonely position becoming even lonelier.
There are, however, signs that the wall is cracking. The Nevada ACLU recently endorsed the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms as an individual right in defiance of the national ACLU’s position. It is the first state affiliate to do so, and it hopefully foreshadows other state organizations following suit.
The ACLU, however, won’t even attempt to refine or backtrack from its unconstitutional viewpoints – it’s just thumbing its nose at the decision. The Justices, and judges around this country, should pay attention. The ACLU relies on the court system in its frequent efforts to overturn legislation and policies it disagrees with. And so the Supreme Court’s authority is always the final word on an issue in the eyes of the ACLU – as long as they agree with the ACLU, that is.
The Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu. You can’t pick and choose which rights are important, and by doing so in regards to the 2nd Amendment, the ACLU cheapens the Constitution.
Brian S. Stewart is a former infantryman and an Iraq War veteran. He recently graduated from the Ohio State University with a degree in Political Science.
ACLU Fault Lines in the Headlines:
Nevada ACLU supports an individual’s right to bear arms - State affiliate bucks national stance, supporting the right to bear arms
Everyone loves guns in Nevada. Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, Republicans, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ...
Wait. The ACLU?
The Nevada ACLU has declared its support for an individual’s right to bear arms, apparently making it the first state affiliate in the nation to buck the national organization’s position on the Second Amendment.
The state board of directors reached the decision this month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals to own handguns.
“The Nevada ACLU respects the individual’s right to bear arms subject to constitutionally permissible regulations,” a statement on the organization’s Web site said. “The ACLU of Nevada will defend this right as it defends other constitutional rights.”
“This was the consensus,” said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for ACLU of Nevada. “There really wasn’t a lot of dissent.”
But the state affiliate’s position puts it at odds with the national organization.
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