Why Gun-Rights Advocates Are Opposing Holder

Advocates of gun rights are drawing on the old and the new in their criticism of Attorney General-designate Eric Holder Jr.

The criticism appears in letters sent in the last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee from two organizations that generally oppose restrictions on gun ownership. Their letters preview what may come up Thursday and Friday during Holder’s confirmation hearing, when a lawyer who has written often about the Second Amendment is scheduled to testify at the request of Republican senators.

Gun Owners of America is opposing Holder outright. The National Rifle Association says it has “serious questions” and “substantial concerns.”

In its letter (pdf), the NRA cites a criminal case from Holder’s time as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in which a New York man was convicted of carrying a pistol without a license. Robert Bieder, who was licensed to carry a gun in New York, had brought the gun to Virginia for recreational purposes and, while returning to New York, stopped in Washington to visit the U.S. Capitol with his daughter. When he tried to check the gun with the Capitol Police, Bieder was arrested.

“Pursuing this trivial case to such lengths imposed substantial costs on taxpayers, with no benefit at all to public safety,” reads the NRA letter. “A reasonable prosecutor might have exercised his discretion by sending Mr. Bieder home to New York with a far better understanding of the District’s strict gun laws. That Mr. Holder chose to do otherwise raises serious questions about his judgment.”

In a 1998 opinion upholding Bieder’s conviction, the D.C. Court of Appeals cited the limited scope of the innocent possession defense. It also wrote that Bieder loaded the gun with 14 rounds before bringing it into the Capitol. (The NRA letter doesn’t mention the latter.)

Stephen Halbrook, a Fairfax, Va., lawyer who is scheduled to testify at Holder's confirmation hearing, has served on an NRA committee, according to his Web site.

The NRA letter and the letter (pdf) from Gun Owners of America both cite recent statements from Holder in support of gun control, including an amicus brief he signed in support of the District’s gun restrictions in District of Columbia v. Heller. In a 5-4 decision last term, the Supreme Court struck down those restrictions as violating the Second Amendment.

For Gun Owners of America, Holder’s statements are enough to disqualify him. “The selection of Eric Holder as nominee for Attorney General is a cynical slap in the face of law-abiding gun owners. Gun Owners of America urges the U.S. Senate to reject this anti-Second Amendment activist should the incoming president persist in pushing this nomination forward,” the letter reads. It adds that a Holder confirmation vote would affect its 2010 congressional rankings.

Opposition to Holder’s nomination—as opposed to criticism—has been rare amid the many letters received by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Holder has a diverse group of supporters, including police organizations, prosecutors, and civil rights advocates.

Comments

[luther]

A permit to carry a gun in new york, is a permit to carry one in New York. I have a permit to carry a gun in indiana, and have traveled through other states where it is not legal to have a carry permit, or even possess a pistol. While in those states, the gun stays locked and unloaded in a case. This idiot left the airport, and wandered around the city with the gun loaded and not locked in his baggage. That was his problem. He had to remove the gun from a airline case, load it, then wandered around washington during the same time frame that a maniac killed a bunch of people in the capitol.

The fact is that thousands of people are prosecuted for this same offense all across the country. Never once have i seen a prosecutor anywhere dismiss a case with a "don't do it again" admonition when the defendant is clearly and unequivocally guilty. Why not bitch that the Bush white house hasn't pardoned him?

[Michael]

FYI, the ACLU has repeatedly stated that they do not do any 2nd Amendment advocacy because they have determined that the NRA and other gun rights groups devote their full attention to that duty and their joining in would just be a duplication of effort.

[George Lyon]

So what if Bleder's gun was loaded "with 14 rounds of ammunition." An unloaded gun is pretty worthless for its intended purpose. It was plain that the defendant had no intent to use the gun unlawfully. Holder ruined this guy's life for no real purpose.

[The Neoabolitionist]

The above-mentioned "civil-rights" organizations supporting Holder's nomination, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) should all be held to task for ignoring Holder's hostility towards the civil rights of a wide range of citizens ranging from gun owners to users of medical marijuana. All our rights are in jeopardy because of so-called "civil-rights" and "civil-liberties" organizations that only pay lip service to civil rights and civil liberties as they promote their narrow and limited agenda in support of narrow ranges of special rights or limited constituencies.

Civil rights and civil liberties are NOT special interests. Gun owners must support the rights of marijuana users and vice versa. Either we support ALL rights of ALL persons, or all will be lost.