Re: Silveira DENIED Certiorari

"betweentheeyes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Silveira, would have been a win win for firearm owners.  'Winning' it
would
> have protected the 2nd, 'losing' it would have galvanized firearm owners.
> NRA ranks would swell again and firearm rights would be an issue in 2004,
> 2008.

While there is a positive reactionary element to any Second Amendment-rlated
legislative defeat (or re-election of a vile anti-gun candidate), such
marginal benefit is N/A in court decisions, especually SCOTUS rulings.  The
result of a negative 2A decision is far too devastating.  One doesn't just
"buck up", elect some pro-gun candidates or pass some laws to fix that kind
of a blow.

If the RKBA is cleary declared by the USSC to be a collective, rather than
individual right, politically, the issue would be largely settled (and
against us, BTW).

When was the last time anyone saw an unpopular USSC decision reversed or
overcome via political activism?  To use one of the most controversial
decisions in history as an example, it has taken decades to pass the
smallest, most logical restriction on Roe v. Wade - the ban on partial
birth-abortion.  Just look at the political MOMENTUM that SCOTUS victory
gave to the pro-abortion camp decades ago, when many believed (and still do)
that the 14th amendement was simply coopted, used as a vehicle to pass what
couldn't be achieved legislatively.  Despite decades of fierce vocal and
unfortunately violent protest, that ruling stands firm.

If we lose at the USSC level, just watch the (formerly pro-gun) politicians
desert us.  I think Mr. Between doesn't understand the implications of such
a loss.

>
> Denied Cert is a firearm owning, 2nd amendment loving loss.

Not if the case denied would have wreaked irreparable damage to our cause.
Such was Silveira, in the opinion of Halbrook, Kates, Kopel, Michel and
others.  I don't know of a single credible RKBA scholar who stood in support
of Siveira.

In terms of trust and confidence, anyone who disagrees with such a team is
most likely going to lose my support very quickly.  After all, it's we, the
gun-owning community, that have elevated such men.  I see the Silveira case
as witch doctors trying to perform surgery on the freedoms of the
generations of Americans that will follow us.

Mike Haas