USA Carry

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July 8, 2009

Your taxes at work for the NRA (and Cox)
When he isn't running for governor, Mike Cox is Michigan's attorney general. And it was in his capacity as the state's top law enforcement officer that Cox announced with considerable fanfare Tuesday that his office has filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a strict gun control ordinance in Chicago.
If you are wondering how a man with two full-time jobs has time to worry about what local officials in Illinois are up to, the press release issued by the AG's office ("Cox Joins NRA in Fight against Chicago Gun Ban") provides a clue.
Get it? Michigan's attorney general (did we mention he's running for governor?) is backing the National Rifle Association, which has the political clout to make or break gubernatorial wannabes like Cox and isn't afraid to use it, in its valiant fight against Chicagoans who want fewer handguns in their city.
And just to show he's not afraid to put your money where his political interests lie, Cox is deploying the AG's own taxpayer-supported staff to do it.
Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that a panel of U.S. Court of Appeals judges got it wrong when they unanimously upheld Chicago's gun control ordinance.
Let's suppose the citizens of Chicago (a city like Detroit, only larger and safer) violated the U.S. Constitution when they proposed to regulate the sort of weapons that people could carry in their city.
And just to be charitable, let's forget that Michigan's attorney general made his reputation as a homicide prosecutor in Detroit, where another fellow might have learned something about what the unregulated proliferation of handguns can do to a city.
Don't Michiganders still have every reason to wonder what their attorney general is doing sticking his nose in Chicago's fight?
The obvious answer is that Cox is in that fight to curry favor with the one of the nation's most potent political lobbies. He wants his party's gubernatorial nomination, and he's pulling out all the stops to get it.
We just wish he would do it on his own time, and with his own money.

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July 9, 2009

A stand for principle on gun rights

BY MIKE COX
MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERALThe Free Press editorialized Wednesday -- "Your taxes at work for the NRA (and Cox)" -- against my filing of a legal brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that supports the National Rifle Association's challenge of a Chicago ordinance banning the possession of most handguns.
My support for this challenge to the Chicago gun ban is rooted in Michigan's own Constitution, which states: "Every person has a right to keep and bear arms for the defense of himself and the state."
My defense of this constitutional principle is longstanding. In 2007, I filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to the District of Columbia's drastic ban on guns, arguing that the Second Amendment's right "to keep and bear arms" is an individual right. The Supreme Court agreed with that position and overturned the D.C. ban in its Heller decision.
The Free Press failed to mention that 34 attorneys general signed on to the NRA's challenge of Chicago's strict gun ban, including both Democrats and Republicans. This isn't about politics; it's about standing up for principle.
It may come as news to the Free Press, but this office files amicus briefs all the time to protect the rights of the state and its citizens. For example, this office has filed amicus briefs in support of the Big Three auto industry and tougher standards to protect the Great Lakes.
In my own experience of more than 13 years as a homicide prosecutor and head of the homicide unit of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, I never saw anyone charged with murder who had a license to legally carry a concealed weapon. Most people who want to possess guns are law-abiding and present no threat to others. Rather than the availability of weapons, my experience is that gun violence is driven by culture, police presence, or the lack of same, and failures in the supervision of parolees and probationers.
Since becoming attorney general, I have worked to ensure that the rights of Michigan citizens to defend themselves are protected. For example, I have expanded the number of states that recognize Michigan CCW permits from eight states to 35 states. And I'll continue to take action when constitutional priciples are threatened.
I make no apologies for my support of the Constitution and the Second Amendment.
Mike Cox
Michigan Attorney General, Lansing