Making Legal History

The Supreme Court just handed down its landmark opinion in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller-striking down Washington, D.Cs handgun ban. Georgetown law professor Randy Barnett aptly described Justice Antonin Scalia's 64-page majority opinion as "exemplary for the way it was reasoned." Barnett said the opinion "will be studied by law professors and students for years to come. It is the clearest, most careful interpretation of the meaning of the Constitution ever to be adopted by a majority of the Supreme Court."

From a scholar like Barnett, that's high praise indeed, and well deserved. But as the Wall Street Journal pointed out, "With the next President likely to appoint as many as three justices, the right to bear arms has been affirmed but still isn't safe." Just one Obama appointee to the Supreme Court could overturn Heller. Normally, when we focus on political threats, we think of supporting ILA and the NRA Political Victory Fund-as we should. But this is an ongoing legal war, and in that struggle, lawyers and judges will have their say about our rights for generations to come-and we must be prepared.

It is for that reason that I urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to momentarily shift your focus to the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund and to join me in providing the financial ammunition it needs to continue fighting for our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization that provides legal and financial assistance to individuals and groups striving to defend your human, civil and constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

1. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund fights, and wins, decisive legal battles to establish important case law and legal precedent that can stand for generations.

For example, in addition to assisting in the Washington, D.C., gun-ban case, the fund supported the precedent setting case of United States v. Emerson, in which the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The fund also supported gun owners' rights in Printz v. United States, where the U.s. Supreme Court struck down unconstitutional portions of the Brady Law.

2. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund assists with scores of cases every year ... but the need is much greater.

The fund has supported hundreds of cases over the past 30 years, averaging approximately 60 active cases at a time. From 2006 to 2008, the fund considered approximately 300 applications for help, with monetary requests totaling nearly $6.4 million. But it could only approve less than half of the applications and award grants totaling approximately $1.3 million-a mere fraction of the total needed. From 1994 to 2005, the fund reviewed more than 1,000 requests for assistance, but could only assist in just over half of those cases, awarding approximately $5.6 million in grants. Much more was needed, and the demand is growing!

3. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund actively wages legal action in defense of your Second Amendment rights.

For example, the fund combats the unlawful seizure of firearms by officials who violate the Constitution-such as we saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

The fund also supports cases to protect the right of self-defense, defends the freedom to hunt and brings civil action against officials who violate the rights of the very citizens they have sworn to protect.

4. The NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund underwrites constitutional research and scholarly work that changes the entire debate.

In addition to legal and financial assistance, the fund also sponsors important constitutional research and legal education through grants, scholarships, law student writing contests, distribution of books to libraries and more.

These efforts have brought increased academic attention to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and our Second Amendment, including analysis and discussion in important legal journals, college curricula and popular culture, plus an increased constitutional awareness among today's students as they become tomorrow's legal and political leaders.

If not for the groundbreaking research that the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund made possible, the "individual-rights view" of the Second Amendment would never have emerged as the "standard model" that scholars speak of today and that the Supreme Court adopted in the Heller decision.

That's the kind of historic sea change that you and I can help to bring about through maximum support for the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund.

With mayors like Bloomberg, Daley, Fenty, Nutter and Nagin; and governors like Rendell, Blagojevich, Patrick and Corzine, you know the lawsuits are coming and the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund will be busy. Now is the time to act!

There are many ways you can support the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund, and many ways you can benefit by doing so. So call the NRA Office of General Counsel today at (703) 267-1250, or logon to www.nradefensefund.org, to learn how you can help change history for the better through the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund.