Brady sockpuppet submit Amici

Also known as the AHSA. You know all about them. The ones whose board is made up almost entirely of anti-gunners, supports bans on "Assault Weapons" and '50 cals, wants safe storage, and put up the flash in the pan anti-NRA sign in Boston, yet still claim to be a "pro-gun" group.

Well, they decided to file an Amici brief in support of Heller. Sounds good right? They want to have the ban overturned. They have lots of former military big wigs that supposedly wrote it and we must support the military.

The problem? They oppose it only because the way it is worded, not because of its intention:

This is not to say that a gun law similar to one
enacted by the District of Columbia could not pass
muster under a traditional implied preemption
analysis; nor is it to say that the District could not
have crafted a gun law consistent with its Charter
and with the Second Amendment by not intruding
into federal functions.

Their whole argument is based on a collective militia function of the populace, the restriction on the ability to train w/ firearms in preparation for a call-up. Nothing about the rights of the individual:

Inasmuch as the D.C. Gun Law prevents D.C.
residents from participating in federally-operated,
federally-supervised, and federally-mandated programs,
it necessarily affects a unique federal function
and therefore is expressly barred by the D.C. Home
Rule Act.

They use the Brady buzz phrase of "reasonable regulations" and state the those are actually "required":

The argument advanced by amici would in no way prevent the D.C. Council from enacting reasonable regulations relating to possession, safety, and registration of firearms in the District. Indeed, it has a responsibility to the public to do so.

So, in conclusion, they have no problems w/ laws requiring registration, bans on certain types of firearms as long as it's not a complete class, high fees, or requiring people to store them at facilities such as police stations, gun clubs, etc. just so long as they have the opportunity to 'practice'. They even state the the ban was a "laudable effort". Sounds like they really support gun rights, doesn't it?

Maybe they were just trying to take a different tact from the numerous other Amici's in support of Heller. Of course if I believed that, I'ld also believe Michael Jackson just wants to be friends w/ my kids.