The Volokh Conspiracy -

"We've Lost the Battle on What the Second Amendment Means,"

says the president of the Brady Campaign, a leading gun control group. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically." The story continues:

If the Supreme Court strikes down the D.C. gun ban, the Brady Campaign is hoping that it will reorient gun control groups around more limited measures that will be harder to cast as infringements of the Second Amendment.

"The NRA [National Rifle Association] won't have this fear factor," [Campaign president Paul] Helmke said.

Bob Cottrol made a similar argument nearly 20 years ago (though he's generally a pro-gun-rights scholar, and probably has a different view than the Brady Campaign about which limited gun control measures are sound).

	[Eugene Volokh, June 13, 2008 at 12:55am] Trackbacks "We've Lost the Battle on What the Second Amendment Means," says the president of the Brady Campaign, a leading gun control group. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically." The story continues: If the Supreme Court strikes down the D.C. gun ban, the Brady Campaign is hoping that it will reorient gun control groups around more limited measures that will be harder to cast as infringements of the Second Amendment. "The NRA [National Rifle Association] won't have this fear factor," [Campaign president Paul] Helmke said. Bob Cottrol made a similar argument nearly 20 years ago (though he's generally a pro-gun-rights scholar, and probably has a different view than the Brady Campaign about which limited gun control measures are sound). Related Posts (on one page): Inaccurate Statement by Brady Campaign's head "We've Lost the Battle on What the Second Amendment Means," Comments [David Kopel, June 13, 2008 at 10:11am] Trackbacks Inaccurate Statement by Brady Campaign's head The Brady Campaign's preemptive announcement of defeat in District of Columbia v. Heller contains an interesting bit of spin: But given that McCain stood by his support for closing "the gun-show loophole" during a recent speech to the N.R.A., the Brady Campaign president hopes that new gun restrictions can make headway regardless of who wins in November. "For John McCain to be the political candidate of the NRA shows how things have changed," Helmke said. Plus ca "change," plus c'est la meme chose. In 2000, the NRA endorsed Texas Governor George W. Bush, who supported a similar provision regarding gun shows. Accordingly, the NRA's endorsement of McCain is not good evidence that gun control is more popular in 2008 than it was in 2000. Related Posts (on one page): Inaccurate Statement by Brady Campaign's head "We've Lost the Battle on What the Second Amendment Means," Comments