We may have a new ally - The ACLU?

**Mr_Tom** · August 13th, 2009, 03:52 PM

The quote that sparked my interest:

Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said police should focus on students’ actions, rather than on “criminalizing objects that may have uses other than as weapons.’’

Is the ACLU focusing on people's actions, not what they are holding in their hands at the time?
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...school_safety/

Tom

**Berks_Iraq_Vet** · August 13th, 2009, 04:07 PM

F@ck the ACLU. They are the enemy. Period.

**LittleRedToyota** · August 13th, 2009, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by Berks_Iraq_Vet

F@ck the ACLU. They are the enemy. Period.

no they aren't. period.

they do not support gun control...and they are one of the primary reasons we still have some semblence of the 1st and 4th amendments in this country.

**Skeptic** · August 13th, 2009, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by LittleRedToyota

no they aren't. period.

they do not support gun control...and they are one of the primary reasons we still have some semblence of the 1st and 4th amendments in this country.

I seem to remember before Heller they had some language on their site that basically contradicted what Heller found, but since Heller it seems they have improved on the guns

I don't always support some of their positions, and I must say, I find many of the people they support despicable. But of course the laws they use to crush the despicable are the same ones that can grow to crush us all, especially when they put a subjective basis on a fundamental liberty

**LittleRedToyota** · August 13th, 2009, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Skeptic

I seem to remember before Heller they had some language on their site that basically contradicted what Heller found, but since Heller it seems they have improved on the guns

the national organization officially held...and i think still holds...a "collective right" view. but i have *never* seen the ACLU actively pursuing (or helping the pursuit of) gun control. so, in that sense, while they might not be our friends, they aren't actually an enemy either--or at least not an active one.

on the local level, nineseven has repeatedly posted many instances of local ACLU chapters defending gun owners against things like illegal searches and seizures arising from the possession of a gun. in that sense, they are actually our friends.

I don't always support some of their positions, and I must say, I find many of the people they support despicable. But of course the laws they use to crush the despicable are the same ones that can grow to crush us all, especially when they put a subjective basis on a fundamental liberty

exactly.

and the 2nd amendment wouldn't really be much good without the 1st and 4th, so, personally, i'm glad the ACLU is out there protecting those two amendments so vehemently.

(i actually have some other issues with the ACLU such as their stance in kelo v. new london. but, overall, they are a very good friend of freedom and liberty...often they are the only ones out there on the front lines fighting to preserve freedom and liberty--in many of those cases, precisely because the people they are defending are such a-holes. but, as you pointed out, if big brother can trample the rights of a-holes, he can trample our rights as well.)

**Farbmeister** · August 14th, 2009, 01:25 AM

Other than their 2A stance I think the ACLU is a good thing. They fight the gubment for PERSONAL rights.

If you join the NRA and the ACLU your bases are covered.

Every political party wants to own and control you. I do not see why people have a need to control others. Live and let live.

If you label yourself a conservative then you have more in common with the ACLU than you might want to admit to.

**ehidle** · August 14th, 2009, 07:14 AM

Yeah I can't come out against the work that the ACLU does. They may not be very pro-gun, but they aren't really anti-gun either.

**greasy** · August 16th, 2009, 04:13 AM

I feel bad now.
I was in DC earlier this summer taking a class at GW. Every day I would walk past several ACLU volunteers giving out surveys. I would always glare at them and walk straight past. It seems like recently, however, they have started branching away from a personal agenda and have actually started focusing on defending our freedom. I will still be skeptical of them, but in the past few months I have seen quite a bit from them that has made me start rethinking my opinion of the organization.

**Eugene V. Debs** · August 16th, 2009, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Berks_Iraq_Vet

F@ck the ACLU. They are the enemy. Period.

Indeed they are the enemy to those who want greater government control over our lives and to force their religion upon everyone else.

**PA Rifleman** · August 16th, 2009, 04:39 PM

Not according to the ACLU:

The Supreme Court has now ruled otherwise. In striking down Washington D.C.'s handgun ban by a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms, whether or not associated with a state militia.
The ACLU disagrees with the Supreme Court's conclusion about the nature of the right protected by the Second Amendment. We do not, however, take a position on gun control itself. In our view, neither the possession of guns nor the regulation of guns raises a civil liberties issue.

http://www.aclu.org/crimjustice/gen/...s20020304.html