On March 13, 2008, ACS hosted a press briefing on the Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller, which concerns the constitutionality of the District of Columbia’s ban on the private possession of handguns.
http://www.acslaw.org/node/6397
Anyone catch this on C-Span? You can still view the panel at the American Constitution Society website. A reporter from Slate magazine moderated the panel. The panel was comprised of Dave Kopel (one of the good guys), Carl Bogus (a stereotypical anti rights academic pinhead), and John Payton of the NAACP.
Along with the usual and predictable tired and dispelled myths, the antis ignored history and claimed that the Second Amendment was implemented solely to put down slave revolts. Huh? That’s a new one on me. Kopel did a great job illustrating the benefits of armed citizens in preventing crime. For example, Kopel mentioned the fact that hot burglaries were the norm in England and other countries where the citizenry have been disarmed, as opposed to the US where they are rare. However, Kopel missed a golden opportunity to refute the mythology perpetuated by the anti rights leftists from the historical perspective. For example, the antis were emphatic that the 2A was not intended to be a last resort to be used to overthrowing a government that had become tyrannical. Kopel could have use this as one of many to refute this:
"God forbid we should ever be 20 years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, & always, well informed... what country can preserve it's liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it's natural manure." Thomas Jefferson to William S. Smith on. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Julian P. Boyd, vol. 12, p. 356 (1955). http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl64.htm
http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/general/FoundersQuotes.htm
The irony the last name (Bogus) of that anti right professor was not lost on me, for his arguments were truly bogus. Anyway, check out the panel, and draw your own conclusions
http://www.acslaw.org/node/6397