Florida ACLU does the right thing for gun owner
State branches of the ACLU are occasionally more genuine than the national body
Fort Lauderdale lawyer Barry Butin, a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Florida’s Broward Chapter, is representing the gun owner, 85-year-old retiree Robert Weinstein.
Weinstein, a retired bar and restaurant owner, had his weapons seized in February after his wife of 61 years died. He had complained to the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office that his wife’s ashes had been missing for three weeks and he had not been able to bury them, and, while filing that complaint, said he “wanted to blow his head off.”
A sheriff’s deputy then visited Weinstein’s house, asked for his semiautomatic pistol and his revolver, which Weinstein gave him, and took him to the hospital for an evaluation. It turned out he was just angry, not crazy, but he still hasn’t gotten his guns back.
“Under the Second Amendment, he has a right to have his guns in his house, “ said Butin. “He’s not a convicted felon. It is unusual for the ACLU. But the ACLU supports all constitutional rights. We don’t pick and choose.”
It will be great if that becomes the case, but it hasn’t been in the past. Brandon Hensler, the ACLU of Florida’s communication director, admitted as much, saying: “This is the first time I know of in the ACLU’s 90-year history that we have advocated on behalf of a citizen to have his weapons returned from law enforcement.”
This stance on the part of the ACLU is to be applauded. If the organization continues to move toward supporting all constitutional rights, and stops using so much energy supporting politically divisive movements that aren’t really rights at all, the results could be phenomenal.
More here
Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.). For a daily critique of Leftist activities, see DISSECTING LEFTISM. To keep up with attacks on free speech see TONGUE-TIED. Also, don’t forget your daily roundup of pro-environment but anti-Greenie news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH . Email me here
Email This
Posted by JonJayRay on July 20, 2010 3:19 am
» Filed Under 2nd Amendment, ACLU, Bill Of Rights, Government malfeasance/misfeasance, News, Property Rights
Trackback URL:
Comments
2 Responses to “Florida ACLU does the right thing for gun owner”
-
-
-
Affiliations
The Giants
Advertise
-
-
Our Store
- Click the design to visit our store and help Stop the ACLU!
-
- More blogs about the ACLU
Syndicate Me
Well? Did the poor guy get his guns back? Or was all this just more stalling and political “feel good” rhetoric to disarm another American citizen?
For those who follow the ACLU closely it is likely obvious, but to the casual reader it is important to point out clearly:
This is the FLORIDA ACLU, not the national ACLU as a whole. Several local ACLU chapters/offices/officers have on occasion been sympthetic to the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, but the organization as a whole has NEVER taken the position of protecting this key right.