The Los Angeles Times editorial page is less a journalistic enterprise than it is a partisan grievance noticeboard. The editorial boards descent into trivial activist messaging was on full display in a pair of recent pieces lamenting the federal judiciarys recognition of the Second Amendment. In both, the editorial board denied the core rulings in the U.S. Supreme Courts opinions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago that recognized the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. In neither piece did the would-be jurists at the L.A. Times offer evidence or argument as to their incorrect position or why the legal analysis of self-important regime press agents should carry any weight whatsoever.
The first editorial was published on April 26 and titled, The Supreme Court agrees to hear a case that could mean more guns in public. The item took issue with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to grant cert to NRA-backed case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Corlett. The case challenges New Yorks concealed carry licensing scheme and could prompt the Court to recognize that the right to keep and bear arms extends outside the home.
Lamenting the Courts cert decision, the editorial board wrote,
The case the court accepted Monday (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. Inc. vs. Corlett) follows the courts controversial 2008 Heller decision, which for the first time enunciated a right to own a firearm in the home for self-protection, breaking with historic perceptions that the right was conferred only to members of state militias. From our perspective, it was an errant reading of the Constitution, but unfortunately the nation is stuck with it.
The second editorial was published June 7 and titled, The judge is wrong: Californias assault-weapons ban must stand. This piece complained about the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in Miller v. Bonta. The decision, by Judge Roger Benitez, found that Californias ban on commonly-owned semiautomatic firearms violated the Second Amendment.
Benitezs ruling on the California ban was the result of a faithful interpretation of the Heller and McDonald decisions. We can be certain of this because Heller author Justice Antonin Scalia signed onto a dissent from the denial of certiorari in Friedman v. Highland Park, a case concerning a local ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, that stated as much. The dissent noted,
Roughly five million Americans own AR-style semiautomatic rifles. The overwhelming majority of citizens who own and use such rifles do so for lawful purposes, including self-defense and target shooting. Under our precedents, that is all that is needed for citizens to have a right under the Second Amendment to keep such weapons.
Defending Californias unconstitutional ban, the L.A. Times editorial board whined,
Even the Supreme Courts controversial 2008 Heller decision, which for the first time recognized (wrongly) an individual right to keep a gun in the home for self-defense, also said that the government has an interest in regulating firearms and that the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.
In addition to its rejection of the Heller ruling, the editorial board did not even get the basic history correct when it contended that Heller recognized the individual right protected by the Second Amendment for the first time. As Scalia explained in Heller, the Courts ruling in the 1939 case U.S. v. Miller is not only consistent with, but positively suggests, that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.
After their defeat in Heller, the more sophisticated gun control advocates abandoned their discredited collective right messaging on the Second Amendment. In fact, some gun control organizations have explicitly told activists in their messaging guides not to Attack the Second Amendment or gun owners in general.
In 2016, anti-gun group Americans for Responsible Solutions (now Giffords) conducted a gun control rebranding effort based on poll and focus-group data. The resulting messaging booklet warned supporters not to Attack the NRA or the Second Amendment. An earlier gun control group messaging guide from 2013, titled, Preventing Gun Violence Through Effective Messaging told readers to acknowledge Yes, there is a right to possess a handgun in the home for self-defense. Moreover, it told gun control activists, dont re-litigate the courts rulings.
There is good reason for the anti-gun groups advice. Aside from the fact that the outmoded collective interpretation of the Second Amendment is indefensible, that false reading is wildly unpopular.
A February 2008 USA Today/Gallup poll conducted prior to the Heller decision asked respondents, Do you believe the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns, or do you believe it only guarantees members of state militias such as National Guard units the right to own guns? The response was unambiguous; 73-percent responded that the Second Amendment guarantees the rights of Americans to own guns, while a mere 20-percent limited that right to state militia members
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted shortly after the Heller decision, in July 2008, mirrored these results. This poll asked respondents, Would you support or oppose amending the United States Constitution to ban individual gun ownership? 78-percent opposed such a measure, while only 17-percent were in favor.
In May 2009, CNN and ORC conducted a similar poll that asked Which of the following comes closer to your interpretation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution? In addition to addressing the need for citizen-militias, it was intended to give individual Americans the right to keep and bear arms for their own defense. It was only intended to preserve the existence of citizen-militias, and does not give individual Americans the right to keep and bear arms for their own defense. Once again, the American public made their position clear; with 77-percent choosing individual gun ownership to 21-percent answering only citizen-militias.
With the individual right to keep and bear arms firmly established by the U.S. Supreme Court, in April 2018 Quinnipiac asked respondents Would you support or oppose repealing the Second Amendment, also known as the right to bear arms? An overwhelming 79-percent opposed repeal.
The vast majority of the general public, the federal government, the U.S. Supreme Court, both major political parties, and even some of the major gun control groups have all acknowledged or reluctantly acquiesced to the fact that the Second Amendment means what it says the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. The L.A. Timess intransigence is symbolic of an increasingly radical and detached media elite who would rather nurse their own prejudices than accept reality or provide any meaningful reporting or informed commentary.
Link:
LA Times Still Denying the Second Amendment - NRA ILA
- Assemblyman Tim Donnelly Introduces Sweeping Handgun Carry License Reform Bill AB 1563 [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Ex-Supreme Court justice pushes gun grab, 2nd Amendment rewrite [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Party of guns: 2016ers speak to NRA [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Michigan 2014 Second Amendment March - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Georgia Governor Signs Law Allowing Firearms In Public Places - Andrew Napolitano - Stuart Varney - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Tony DeTora's Second Amendment Commitment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Man Drug PSA - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Do you exercise your Second Amendment Rights while riding? - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Kira Davis - My 2nd Amendment Story - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Gabby Franco for NRA News: "Freedoms Are Not Untouchable" - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- SafeandVaultStore GS592820 Second Amendment Gun Safe - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Oathbreaking Tyrant: Justice John Paul Stevens Wants To Change The Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Dear LiberalViewer: Second Amendment Response - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Justice John Paul Stevens Wants To Change The Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- God & The Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Amend The Second Amendment? - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Justice John Paul Stevens on the Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- CCRW Televised Forum - Mental Health, Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Obama lying supporting second amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Rally Saturday - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment and other t-shirts support the cause - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- 2nd Amendment - Laws [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Second Amendment - U.S. Constitution - FindLaw [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Rep. Larry Pittman talks about Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- billkeyz talking about gun control the Second Amendment NRA - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- US Senate Candidates Iowa - Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- NRA leadership uses Bloomberg gun control push to rally members [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Open Carry Or Concealed Carry In California & Does The NRA Oppose - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Greg Brannon Nuke Second Amendment right - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- SafeandVaultStore GS724027 Second Amendment Gun Safe - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Supreme Court Gun Carry Rights; Drake v. Jerejian, Pending petition - Video [Last Updated On: April 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 29th, 2014]
- Letter: NRA opposes reasonable responses [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Common sense calls for repeal of second amendment [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- GUNS: Amendment words to fight over [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Gun lobby group receives open government award [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- NFL Player Brags About Shooting a Skunk to NRA - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Disgruntled Motel Owner Uses Second Amendment To Fight Government Officials #ZHG - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Psychiatrists to push NWO gun control - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day 2014 at the Pennsylvania Capitol - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day Rally - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Pyro Planet Second Amendment & Star Spangled Blast - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Gun rights: Times have changed since the creation of the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Billy Johnson for NRA News: "Infringed Rights" - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Second Amendment group marches in El Paso [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Part 1 of 2) - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- New Jersey Gun-Carrying Limit Left Intact by High Court [Last Updated On: May 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 5th, 2014]
- Supreme Court Wasnt Serious about the Second Amendment [Last Updated On: May 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 5th, 2014]
- Staying away from guns and Gitmo [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- US Supreme Court refuses to consider gun-rights case [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Success For Gun Owners & 2nd Amendment Defenders In 2014 [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Yen on Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Shootout - Video [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Gun Depot USA Second amendment target shooting. - Video [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Second Amendment in real time boils down to politics [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2014]
- Second Amendment - Laws [Last Updated On: May 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 8th, 2014]
- Alan Gottlieb Supporting Compromise of your Second Amendment Rights - Video [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2014]
- Lawmakers divided on bill that restricts EBT use [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- Defenseless Nigerian Men, No Second Amendment #BringBackOurGirls Boku Haram - Video [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Part 2 of 2) - Video [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- Flawed argument I [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2014]
- Minera Panama S.A. and Petaquilla Minerals Limited Sign $60 Million Agreement [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2014]
- Interview Interrupted by State Highway Administrator - Video [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2014]
- Lawmakers debate proposed EBT restrictions - Video [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2014]
- N.J. Gov. Chris Christie under the gun over ammo bill, as White House beckons [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2014]
- Guns and Supreme Court: Is Second Amendment a Privilege, Not a Right? [Last Updated On: May 13th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 13th, 2014]
- Guns to be focus of rally [Last Updated On: May 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 15th, 2014]
- DHS Says "Hands Off" VIP Terrorist - Video [Last Updated On: May 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 15th, 2014]
- INFOWARS Nightly News: with David Knight Monday May 12 2014: Plus Special Reports - Video [Last Updated On: May 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 15th, 2014]
- Gun rights advocates hope for convention impact [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- Det Bowers on the Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- Trevor Stewart - V18 - AUDIO - THE RACIAL NETWORK & THE SECOND AMENDMENT - Video [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- Trevor Stewart - V17 - THE RACIAL-NETWORK & THE SECOND AMENDMENT - Video [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment: A Biography - Video [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- Knowing Your Rights.... Yes we have them! - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Game) - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- We Have Rights! An Animation On The Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- Letter: 2nd amendment purposes [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2014]
- Senator Ted Cruz's father Rafael Cruz on the Second Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2014]