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Supreme Court Rules Judges Can't Restore Gun Rights December 10, 2002 By LINDA GREENHOUSE WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 - Federal judges do not have authority to disregard the will of Congress and restore gun ownership rights to convicted felons, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously today. The case, a dispute over the effect of a 10-year-old congressional ban on the restoration of felons' gun privileges by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, did not directly raise the question of whether the Second Amendment grants an individual right to bear arms. But because this was as close as the Supreme Court is likely to come to that volatile issue in the near future, the case received more attention than its straightforward questions of administrative law would otherwise warrant. The Federal Firearms Act makes it a crime for a convicted felon to own guns or ammunition. The law also authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to lift the "firearms disability" based on an individual's circumstances. The secretary delegated this authority to a Treasury Department agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The law also provides that appeals from denials of relief by the bureau can be heard in federal court. The Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group here, studied the issue in the early 1990's and learned that the bureau was spending millions of dollars in administrative costs to review applications and grant relief to thousands of felons, some of whom used their restored gun privileges to commit new crimes. In response, Congress in 1992 passed an appropriations bill to bar the bureau from spending any money on the relief program. The ban has been renewed annually since then. In the case before the Supreme Court today, a licensed firearms dealer, Thomas Lamar Bean, lost his gun privileges, and his ability to make a living as a gun dealer, after a conviction for transporting 200 rounds of ammunition across the Mexican border from Texas. He had inadvertently left the ammunition in his car after attending a gun show in Laredo, Tex. Under the congressional ban, he could not seek relief from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. But a federal district judge in Beaumont, Tex., Joe Fisher, lifted the firearms disability on his own, in an action that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, then upheld. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the court today overturning the Fifth Circuit's 2001 ruling. Judges have authority only to review the bureau's "denial" of an application for relief, Justice Thomas said, explaining that "an actual adverse action on the application by ATF is a prerequisite for judicial review." Inaction by the bureau does not amount to a "denial" within the meaning of the law, he said, and consequently "mere inaction by ATF does not invest a district court with independent jurisdiction to act on an application." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/politics/10CND-SCOT.html?ex=1040555159&ei=1&en=0524490d2f2b7684 HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
