Tuesday, April 10, 2007

THE STORY BEHIND THE PARKER DECISION

The Fight Against the Thirty-one year old D.C. Gun Ban Grew out of the Anger and Frustration of one little lady, Shelly Parker

By de Andréa
April 7, 2007

Inasmuch as Washington D.C. has the highest violent crime rate in the country, Shelly Parker did everything she could to keep her home safe. She bought a dog; she called D.C. police when she suspected illegal activity on her block. She installed a security camera on her front window; she organized some of her neighbors and started a type of neighborhood watch.

Her crime-fighting efforts must have made an impression on the local criminals, because one morning Parker found her car window smashed, and saw rocks scattered around the vehicle. She felt it was again retaliation for her vigilance. "That really angered me to my core," recalled Parker, who said she often received verbal threats and taunts while walking her malamute named Barney, near her home on the northeastern edge of Capitol Hill. And then one day, a helpful police officer gave her some advice, get a gun, he told her.

At the time, possessing a gun in the District was illegal but this gave Shelly Parker an idea; she later joined five other D.C. residents who took the District of Columbia to court in an effort to overturn the city's 31-year-old handgun ban which has for years enabled all the crime.

In March, of 2007 a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in their favor, striking down key elements of the over 30 year old restrictive statute by a 2 to 1 vote.

Among other things, the judges said the Second Amendment gives residents the right to keep loaded guns in their homes, which is interesting since the Second Amendment has not changed in 200 years, what is so different now??? Maybe they finally appointed a couple of Judges that could actually read, this is interesting because the entire U.S. Constitution is written below the 12 grade level, and like the Bible was written so even a child could understand it. This surly doesn’t say a whole lot for the intelligence, much less the education of some of our passed Jurists.

The lawsuit bearing her name, Parker vs. the District of Columbia, probably will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The D.C. attorney general's office said that the city will file a petition to have the case reheard before the full Court of Appeals. The D.C. gun law is expected to remain intact while the proceedings continue.

The court's decision has been saluted by gun-rights organizations and others who consider themselves staunch defenders of constitutional rights. But the D.C. officials and gun-control advocates fear that wiping out the ban, will proliferate violence. Ah yes of course, the old blood in the streets scenario again, something that the America haters can’t seem to let go of, no matter how many times it has been proven wrong, wrong, and wrong. Some have argued that the half-dozen residents who filed the lawsuit are outside the norm and in an especially high crime area, this in a city that is labeled the Nation's murder capital.

For Parker, and for District residents who believe that a firearm provides protection when fighting for safe communities, the court ruling is a victory. "The only thing between me and somebody entering my home are harsh words," Parker said. "That's all I have."

Robert A. Levy, the lawyer who bankrolled the lawsuit, wanted a diverse group of complainants, and Parker, a 44-year-old software designer, is one of two black female plaintiffs. She said the ban on handguns puts neighborhood activists at risk of being subjected to vandalism, robbery, threats, harassment and even murder. Having a pistol in her home would level the playing field, "It's a deterrent. I think it would at least give a criminal pause," she said.

Walking in the parking lot near her office in Tysons Corner one day, Parker spotted a car with a bumper sticker that read: http://www.blackmanwithagun.com/. She told the driver about what was happening in her neighborhood. He put her in touch with one of his friends, Alan Gura, one of the lawyers in the gun litigation. She agreed to be a plaintiff but said she was surprised to see her last name prominently associated with the case.

Frustrated by the neighborhood crime, Parker decided about two years ago that it was time to move out of the neighborhood. Many of her new neighbors do not know of her involvement in the lawsuit. "I'm trying to avoid the notoriety of being labeled as a gun-toting mama," she said.

Parker who started a neighborhood watch of sorts, is still quite memorable to her previous neighbors. Several said that they understood, and even supported, her view on the handgun ban. Heather Schoell, who lives around the corner from Parker's old house, agreed that the ban puts law-abiding citizens at a disadvantage. "You're not going to go out on a limb and make waves if you don't have backup," she said.

Inspector Kevin Keegan, who is in charge of the 1st Police District substation, said that Parker might create more problems by having a gun. "The success stories of self-defense are few and far between compared to the accidents and negligence and guns being stolen and ending up in crimes, homicides, and blood in the streets" he said. Of course the only source for Inspector Keegan’s information is the Brady Gun Control Inc. monthly news letter which is totally out of touch with reality and doesn’t agree with F.B.I. Stats.

That is also the view of several D.C. elected officials, including Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and the District's congressional delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), inasmuch as they both, support tyranny, oppression, and crime, expressed outrage at the court's decision.

THE BOTTOM LINE: I find this an incredible story, especially since it only took one little lady to begin the abolition of over 30 years of tyranny and a blatant violation of American Constitutional rights of Self-defence. Some Neighborhoods as I have seen first hand in East Palo Alto California and in Washington D.C. have been literal prisons for residents, in some cases living behind barbed wire and bars on doors and windows just to stay alive. These are areas where just the appearance of a police officer could detonate a riot.

This is another prime example of what happens when the U.S. Constitution is ignored and people are denied their inalienable rights; it is the same as in any third world dictatorship, where there are no rights of self defence; and as a result, Chaos, crime, and murder rule the streets. If this court ruling is upheld as I believe it will, it will be interesting to watch the Murder Capital of the Country become virtually crime free. This of course will be in a direct relationship as to how much freedom the citizens of D.C. will be allowed to have in defending themselves and their property against the bloodsucking criminals that are now free to exercise their version of preponderance in the streets of our country’s capital. It is now, at the very least, a shameful example of a Free Nation.

de Andréa

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