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President-elect Barack Obama may not have seriously vetted New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) for his selection as Commerce secretary, Byron York proposes after reading a Washington Post report that Richardson downplayed the significance of the investigation that led him to withdraw his name. ... READ MORE

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Democrat Al Franken is playing it safe by staying in Minnesota after declaring victory over incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), but that's not enough to keep RNC Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan from accusing him of stealing Coleman's Senate seat through ... READ MORE

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Caroline Kennedy's Senate campaign has tanked, Amanda Carpenter proclaims after a new Public Policy Polling survey reported that 44 percent of New Yorkers have a "lesser" opinion of her than before she announced her desire to fill Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-N.Y.) ... READ MORE

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Though Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) may have protested the pick, former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta will serve the nation well as CIA director, Attaturk proposes, noting Panetta's rejection of torture. Lisa Derrick, meanwhile, calls Levi Johnston, ... READ MORE

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It's not hard to understand why President-elect Barack Obama would pick former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, who has no direct intelligence experience, to head the CIA, given that Obama himself won the White House with no executive ... READ MORE

TalkingPointsMemo
President-elect Barack Obama and his team may have made a mistake by not calling Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the incoming head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to tell her that former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta would be ... READ MORE

Power Line
President-elect Barack Obama's decision to tap former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, who has no direct intelligence experience, as head of the CIA may have cemented the agency's role as a political entity rather than an intelligence-gathering one, Paul ... READ MORE

MyDD
Though President-elect Barack Obama is taking some criticism for naming former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta--who has no direct intelligence experience--to head the CIA, it should be noted that several of his predecessors at the agency similarly lacked ... READ MORE

The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post's banner headline this morning tells readers that President-elect Barack Obama, by picking former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and retired Admiral Dennis Blair to serve as head of the CIA and director of national intelligence, has made ... READ MORE

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The Drudge Report leads with a photo of storm clouds over the Capitol and a story telling readers that the Senate, on its first day of work in 2009, faces controversy over whether former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and comedian Al ... READ MORE

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June 26, 2008

More Lawsuits to Follow in Coming Days after Court's Gun Ruling

@ 4:20 pm by Chris Good

The National Rifle Association (NRA) says it will begin filing lawsuits as early as tomorrow to challenge gun laws in counties across the country, following today's Supreme Court ruling against D.C.'s ban on handguns.

A suit against San Francisco could come as early as tomorrow, while suits against suburbs of Chicago may be filed as early as next week, NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox told The Hill. The group is reviewing statutes across the country and has yet to determine how many it will file, Cox said. Cox listed six imminent suits in total.

"We certainly are gonna go and challenge any law that treats gun owners as second-class citizens," Cox told The Hill, calling today's decision a "big victory" for gun owners nationwide.

San Francisco bans residents of public housing projects from owning guns; the Chicago suburbs of Wilmette, Oak Park, Morton Grove, Evanston, and Winnetka ban all residents from owning handguns. The NRA will challenge those bans on behalf of its members living there, Cox told The Hill.

"We’re already in contact with affected parties and we anticipate filing in the very near future," Cox said.

The Illinois State Rifle Association has already filed suit against the city of Chicago challenging its handgun ban, according to a report from Chicago's CBS TV affiliate.

Today's Supreme Court ruling deemed handgun bans unconstitutional. The court struck down D.C.'s ban on handgun ownership, ruling that it violated the second amendment.

San Francisco's more specific ban, Cox said, should be struck down under the ruling as well.

"When the Supreme Court says 'all Americans,' it includes those who aren't fortunate enough to afford a 24/7 security detail like Barack Obama," Cox said, working in a dig at the Democratic nominee. Obama's campaign today backed away from a previous statement, made last year by an aide, that Obama supported D.C.'s ban.

The number of lawsuits the NRA will file has yet to be determined. The group is examining gun laws nationwide to determine how many it thinks should be affected by today's ruling, according to Cox.

Cox hailed the decision as a victory for gun owners. The decision shows it is time for the nation's laws to "focus on criminals and not law abiding Americans," Cox said.

The NRA was not involved in the suit that led to today's decision. It filed an amicus brief to advocate the eventual outcome, but its lawyers did not work on the case.

3 Comments »

The Hill welcomes comment from anyone and will almost always post it whether it is favorable or critical, as long as it is substantive and advances debate.
  1. Please, Please someone file a lawsuit in New York City.

    Comment by AJN — June 26, 2008 @ 4:44 pm

  2. […] the last sentence, appear that way in the original article. ———————————– The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

    Pingback by More lawsuits to follow USSC's Heller ruling (with some specifics) - Political Forum - US & World Political Discussion Forums — June 26, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

  3. The militia, everywhere

    … make no mistake, now that the gun lobbyists have found five jurists filled with enough NRA Kool-Aid to turn the entire nation into a militia, you'd better believe they're looking to strip away the "well regulated" part of the Late, Great, Unite…

    Trackback by ReidBlog — June 27, 2008 @ 12:13 am

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