More on the Heller brief
NRA has a list of congresscritters supporting the good guys. For those who asked, McCain is on there. And so are all of my Reps. Thanks, guys.
Update: and Cheney? So, have he and Bush had a talk about the Dept. of Justice?
Update 2: NRA has a statement on the Cheney thing:
On behalf of four million NRA members and 80 million American gun owners, we would like to thank Vice President Dick Cheney for his strong support of the individual rights view of the Second Amendment. Today, in his capacity as President of the United States Senate, Vice President Cheney signed on to the congressional amicus curiae brief affirming the individual rights view of the Second Amendment. As Americans, we are grateful and fortunate to have a friend of freedom in the Vice President.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
My Congresscritter (Adam Putnam) signed on too. He’s voted pretty well and he’s always at least been responsive to my emails, so this helps him in my eyes for getting my vote next time around. Mel Martinez continues to piss me off to no end, and this only makes me dislike him ever so slightly less.
February 8th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Only 1 from my state of CT. A lone holdout in NJ as well. None from VT or MA.
Wow.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Neither of our senators nor our representative here in the Great State and Criminal Enterprise of New Joisey signed it. No surprise.
February 9th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Ah, Kentucky.
First it’s the low Brady score, now both Senators and all five Representatives (one a D!) signed in support of the good guys.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Cheney’s endorsement doesn’t represent administration policy; he’s just tired of having to drive to another state when he wants to shoot his lawyer friends.
February 9th, 2008 at 8:20 am
My rep signed it as well as one senator. Get this: The Democrat Senator from Virginia signed it, the Republican (RINO) did not. Go figure.
As far as the Vice President…what most people don’t seem to realize is that the Vice President is not a part of the Executive branch. He holds no policy-making power in the administration. As the President of the Senate, however, he is a part of the Legislative branch.
It’s very clear in the Constitution. The VP holds no executive power at all unless, through virtue of succession, he BECOMES the President. The only powers granted to the Vice President are legislative in being President of the Senate and having the tie breaking vote there.
Of course this could also be nothing more than political machinations…Bush/Cheney working in concert to walk both sides of the fence. Bush takes the statist stand by supporting the Solicitor General’s Brief and Cheney appeases the “gun nuts” by signing onto the Congressional Amicus brief. I think, most likely though, that this is a true case of disagreement between them.
Bush has never been a true friend of gun owners. He made all the right noises, but when it came down to brass tacks…he pledged to sign a re-authorization of the AWB if it hit his desk. Many wrote that off as a political move that he made only because he knew the bill wouldn’t get past congress. I’m not buying. Gun control is too much of a deal killer in our political climate. I think he really supported the AWB and I believe he supports the Solicitor General’s Amicus. Bush is a statist and always has been and he’s no friend to gun owners. Cheney’s probably a statist too, but I don’t think he supports gun control and I’m convinced that they just disagree on this issue.
Sorry for the filibuster…I’ve really gotta work on my brevity.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:55 am
So, I finally got around to looking up my own state.
Michigan came off pretty well; however, neither of our Senators signed. Neither did the rep’s for the urban centers. Some of the suburban reps signed, some did not. All the reps for rural regions signed.
The downside? Rep. Sander Levin, my representative, didn’t sign. He’s been in office for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. I doubt this will put him out, but it might happen…
And his brother Carl is up for re-election in the Senate. They must not have kept the Bill of Rights in their copy of the Constitution.