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FEATURE STORIES May 20, 2002 "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh Seeks to Have Firearms Charges Dropped, Using Ashcroft's Second Amendment
Reversal Michael D. Barnes, President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, issued a statement on May 16, 2002 regarding reports that lawyers for John Walker Lindh, the California man accused of fighting with the Taliban, are seeking to dismiss a firearms charge against him based on the Bush Administration's reversal of the United State's long-standing position on the Second Amendment… Court Allows Grunow Lawsuit to Go Forward The widow of schoolteacher Barry Grunow has won an important victory in her lawsuit against the distributor that supplied the semi-automatic pistol used by seventh-grader Nathaniel Brazill to shoot and kill Mr. Grunow in his classroom in Lake Worth, Florida in May 2000. Pamela Grunow is seeking to hold the distributor, Valor Corporation of Florida, responsible for selling an unreasonably dangerous and defective product.
Attorney General Ashcroft Reverses Justice Department's Longstanding Position on Second Amendment Attorney General Ashcroft has officially reversed the United States' long-standing position on the Second Amendment, stating to the Supreme Court on May 6, 2002 that the Amendment "broadly protects the rights of individuals" to possess firearms. This directly contradicts the Justice Department's position of more than 40 years that the Second Amendment confers a right to "bear arms" only in the context of a state-sponsored militia. Ashcroft also has directed U.S. Attorneys across the nation to refrain from making the strongest argument available in defense of gun laws challenged by criminals and the National Rifle Association, instead inviting judges to make their own judgments about whether a gun law at issue is "reasonable."
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