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In footnotes to two government briefs concerning two firearms'
cases, the Bush administration led by Attorney General John Ashcroft has
altered federal government policy regarding the Second Amendment. On May
6, 2002 Ted Olson, Solicitor General, delivered the government briefs to
the Supreme Court.
However, the action of the government is a double-edged sword. In
the footnote, the government brief does acknowledge that "The
current position of the United States, however, is that the Second
Amendment more broadly protects the rights of individuals, including
persons who are not members of any militia engaged in active military
service or training, to possess and bear their own firearms, subject to
reasonable restrictions designed to prevent possession by unit persons
or to restrict the possession of types of firearms that are particularly
suited to criminal misuse" Yet, the government position regarding
both cases Emerson v. United States and
Haney v. United States, is to ask the Supreme Court not to take
up either case. The brief supports the position that both cases came
under the "reasonable restrictions."
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