Poll: Most Americans say cities have no right to ban handguns
Posted in Power to the People by R Lee Wrights on March 15th, 2010 by SAF staff
A new Rasmussen poll has revealed that an overwhelming majority of Americans reject the notion that cities have a right to ban handguns, siding with the Second Amendment Foundation’s position in its lawsuit to overturn the Chicago ban.
Oral arguments in the SAF case were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. Court observers predict the high court will overturn the Chicago ban, thus incorporating the Second Amendment to state and local governments through provisions in the 14th Amendment. Results from Rasmussen’s national telephone survey found that 69 percent of the respondents say cities have no right to ban legal handgun ownership, while 25 percent believe cities can ban guns.
“The Rasmussen survey clearly shows that Americans have grown weary of anti-gun municipal demagoguery,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “A victory in our case before the Supreme Court should send a clear signal to gun prohibitionists like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that arbitrarily disarming law-abiding citizens under the guise of fighting crime is an idea that has no place in this country.”
SAF is joined in its case by the Illinois State Rifle Association and four Chicago residents, including Otis McDonald, for whom the Supreme Court case is named.
The Rasmussen poll also found very little difference between current public sentiment and earlier surveys that noted 70 percent of American adults believe the U.S. Constitution guarantees the individual right to own a firearm.
“For years,” Gottlieb said, “the anti-gun lobby has been claiming majority support for its Draconian agenda, but polling data like this new information from Rasmussen shows that the public is not about to surrender a significant civil right. We believe the Supreme Court is on the verge of expanding the scope of that right by applying the Second Amendment to the states.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
fod for thought said,
March 31, 2010 @ 12:22 pm
I would like to make something perfectly clear here. You don’t need the 14th Amendment protections if YOU ARE NOT A SLAVE (U.S. citizen). The Constitution clearly states that the PEOPLE have the right to keep and bear arms. The people live in all 50 states plus the United States (aka Washington, DC). The 14TH AMENDMENT [created for the slaves who were not considered human/people, but animals] CITIZENS ARE THE ONES WHO have to get permission from the state because they are thought NOT TO HAVE GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS). Over the years, the manipulators have convinced all the people in our country that they are slaves (U.S. citizens) and therefore need the same permission slip. It is time for the inhabitants of the USA to wake up from this FEDERAL MATRIX AND EXERT THEIR GOD-GIVEN RIGHTS ONCE MORE. The best way to do this so far is to take it to court, because the courts still recognize rights. Even in the Heller case, the court NEVER SAID YOU NEED A LICENSE TO OWN A GUN. They specifically didn’t touch that question in that case BECAUSE HELLER DIDN’T WANT TO GO THERE IN HIS ARGUMENTS. HE, A FORMER COP, FRAMED THE DEBATE TO EXCLUDE THAT ARGUMENT AND HE GOT BUSTED FROM WHAT I HERE. I HEARD THEY DENIED HIM A LICENSE. I bet he wishes he would have made that argument before the Supreme Court now. AFTER ALL, THE COURT BASICALLY TELEGRAPHED THEY WOULD RULE THE LICENSING UNCONSTITUTIONAL WHEN THEY CONFIRMED THE 2ND AMENDMENT IS AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT OF EVERY AMERICAN.