John Stephen Calls On Supreme Court To Support Gun Owners’ Rights

MEDIA RELEASE                                              CONTACT: For Immediate Release                                             Greg Moore March 18, 2008                                          

John Stephen Calls On Supreme Court To Support Gun Owners’ Rights

Court Hears Washington DC Case On Constitutionality Of Banning Handguns Today

MANCHESTER, NH- 1st District Congressional candidate John Stephen called on the Supreme Court to affirm an individual’s right to own a firearms as protected by the Second Amendment.  Today, the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case (District of Columbia v. Heller) that tests a Washington D.C. law that bans the ownership of handguns and requires that rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded, disassembled, or bound by a trigger lock."  The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the DC law was an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment, which the court determined as protecting an individual’s right to own firearms for private use.

“The Supreme Court has a chance to make clear that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s owning firearms as a fundamental constitutional right,” said Stephen.  “This is a critical case that should affirm the basic principle that Americans can own firearms, and that government cannot simply take these rights away.  This case is a significant test of whether the Court will defend the freedoms that we enjoy.”

A bipartisan coalition of 250 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 55 Senators signed a “friend of the court” brief calling on the Supreme Court to affirm an individual’s right to own firearms.  In New Hampshire, Senators Judd Gregg and John Sununu, and Representative Paul Hodes signed the brief, with Representative Carol Shea-Porter choosing not to support the brief.

“Representative Shea-Porter was the only member of the delegation who did not sign the brief to the court that owning a firearm is an individual right,” added Stephen.  “The citizens of New Hampshire deserve to know if she supports the Second Amendment as protecting the right of individuals to bear arms.  In addition, the over 2,000 workers with high-paying jobs in the firearms industry here across the state need to know where she stands on this important issue.”

John Stephen is the former Commissioner of Health and Human Services.  Prior to that position, he served as the Assistant Commissioner of Safety, where he also served as the state’s first Homeland Security Coordinator.  Stephen also served as a prosecutor for 10 years, in Hillsborough County and as an Assistant Attorney General.  He is a Manchester resident.