>>> FOR THIS WEEKS GOTCHA, I
WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE FIGHT
OVER FIREARMS IN THIS COUNTRY
WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON JUDGE
ROGER BENITEZ, WHO RECENTLY
OVERTURNED CALIFORNIAS ASSAULT
WEAPONS BAN.
IN HIS WRITTEN OPINION, HE
COMPARED AR15 GUNS TO SWISS ARMY
KNIVES, DESCRIBING BOTH AS,
QUOTE, THE PERFECT COMBINATION
OF HOME DEFENSE WEAPON AND
HOMELAND SECURITY DEFENSE
EQUIPMENT.
BENITEZ HAS BEEN WIDELY
CRITICIZED FOR THE COMPARISON,
WHICH IS ABSURD ON ITS FACE.
SEMIAUTOMATIC GUNS LIKE THE AR15
ARE WEAPONS OF WAR, AND A SWISS
ARMY KNIFE IS A MULTIUSE TOOL
THAT TYPICALLY INCLUDES A NAIL
FILE, TWEEZERS, AND A CORKSCREW.
BUT THE LARGER STORY IS WHAT
BENITEZ RULING WILL MEAN FOR
GUN LAWS IN THIS COUNTRY, AND
WHETHER WE ARE ABOUT AS TO SHIFT
IN SECOND AMENDMENT
INTERPRETATION BY THE COURTS.
CONTRARY TO THE REPORTS PUSHED
BY THE NRA AND OTHER GUN
LOBBYING GROUPS, FOR MOST OF
AMERICAN HISTORY, THE IDEA THAT
THE SECOND AMENDMENT GUARANTEED
UNFETTERED PERSONAL GUN
OWNERSHIP WAS A NONSTARTER.
INDEED, WELL INTO THE 20th
CENTURY, THE SUPREME COURT
REPEATEDLY RULED THAT THE SECOND
AMENDMENT APPLIED ONLY TO GUN
OWNERSHIP WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF
A STATE MILITIA.
SUPREME COURT JUSTICEBERGER,
APPOINTED BY RICHARD NIXON WAS
ASKED ABOUT THE NRA IDEA OF
UNLIMITED GUN OWNERSHIP UNDER
THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN 1991.
>> THIS HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF
ONE OF THE GREATEST PIECES OF
FRAUD -- I REPEAT THE WORD
FRAUD -- THAT I HAVE SEEN IN MY
LIFE.
>> IN BETWEEN HIS CONDEMNATION
OF UNRESTRICTED FIREARM ACCESS
AND JUDGE BENITEZS DECISION
LAST WEEK, THE UNITED STATES HAS
SEEN SEVERAL CASES THAT CHIPPED
AWAY AT COMMON SENSE GUN CONTROL
MEASURES.
PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY, IN
2008 WITH D.C. VERSUS HELLER, IN
WHICH THE SUPREME COURT, AFTER
MORE THAN 200 YEARS OF
ACKNOWLEDGING LIMITS ON GUN
OWNERSHIP, DECIDED TO SCRAP ALL
THAT PRECEDENT AND SAY THAT THE
SECOND AMENDMENT GUARANTEED
ALMOST ANY INDIVIDUALS RIGHT TO
OWN A GUN.
THERES NO EVIDENCE THAT THE
FOUNDING FATHERS INTENDED THIS
AT ALL, BUT EVEN IF THERE WERE,
THOSE MEN COULD NOT HAVE
CONCEIVED OF THE WEAPONS WE
WIELD TODAY.
INDEED, SOME OF THE DEADLIEST
MASS SHOOTINGS IN HISTORY HAVE
BEEN COMMITTED USING THE SAME
GUN JUDGE BENITEZ COMPARED TO A
SWISS ARMY KNIFE.
AND WHILE SWISS ARMY KNIVES ARE
DESIGNED AS MULTIUSE TOOLS,
AR15s AND OTHER ASSAULT-STYLE
WEAPONS AND GUNS HAVE A SINGULAR
PURPOSE, TO KILL AND MAIM AS
MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE IN AS
SHORT A TIME AS POSSIBLE.
WITH MASS SHOOTINGS ON THE RISE,
JUDGE BENITEZ DECISION ISNT
JUST POORLY ARGUED AND OFF