Alphecca

Figuratively tarred and feathered? Heck, I've got tar.

Heck, if states can selectively ignore parts of the Constitution, the South can bring back slavery.

First, Yahoo's citation is wrong. Presser is at 115 US 2252.

Second, Presser rests upon a principle that has been soundly discredited. So much so that even the 9th Circuit agrees!!

I've post more over at my place.

First, Yahoo's citation is wrong. Presser is at 116 US 252.

Second, Presser rests upon a principle that has been soundly discredited. So much so that even the 9th Circuit agrees!!

I've post more over at my place.

Ooops, sorry for the double post. The citation in the second one is correct. The citation in the first is wrong.

I have to use expressions such as "figuratively" and "in my opinion" to keep myself in line and out of lawyer/prosecutor sights. You never know what some judge would do if I REALLY wrote my feelings... Besides, then I would sound like Tom Delay or Pat Robertson and I DON'T want to do THAT!

Just wanted to briefly set the record straight regarding Mr. Rieper's recent remarks. I assume he is speaking on his own behalf since his comments certainly leave little to be desired if you are a plaintiff with a Second Amendment issue looking for help from an organization.

I am currently on active duty serving in Iraq (not as an attorney) and felt compelled to write while I have the chance. Sometime ago, I spoke with two individuals of the NYS Rifle & Pistol Association to see whether the organization would be interested in providing any support for my case. It was my understanding that NYSR&PA is one of the oldest firearms advocacy organizations that is dedicated to preserving Second Amendment rights since that is what their web site states. I also sent them copies of the pleadings. After not hearing from them, I sent them a short email stating that I assumed the organization was not interested in providing support. Although disappointed, I did not take it personally since there can be many reasons not to support a particular case. End of story.

As for the media, I have never sought them out, which is why the case has received very little press unlike other high profile Second Amendment cases. I did however, answer a few questions from a reporter in Syracuse who had contacted me after I lost in the District Court.

Mr. Rieper of course is entitled to his opinion about my demeanor and the merits of the case. It is worth mentioning that some time ago, I turned the case over to experienced appellate/Supreme Court litigators from a top notch D.C. law firm, which graciously took the case. I remain very much involved however in drafting briefs etc., and am confident we have the best.

Thanks for the opportunity to explain. I have to wonder if Mr. Rieper would have been so publicly vocal in his criticism of the case if we had prevailed in the Second Circuit.

Dave Bach
Iraq

Unlike Dave Bach, I actually live in the Hudson Valley and got to read firsthand about his antics in the local newspapers. Feel free to look through the archives of the Times Herald Record, Daily Freeman, and Poughkeepsie Journal. He played up his military background and it was made quite clear he wanted to carry because he was worried about 9/11 and terrorist attacks.

You know Mr. Rieper, I don't mind if someone disagrees with the case or even if they dislike me personally. But I would suggest that you read all the pleadings in their entirety before citing the media as a credible source of information, particularly regarding this case and on issues involving the rights of gun owners in general. I have no doubt that the media reported what it wanted to report and cherry-picked comments from the Complaint to convey whatever impressions they wanted to make. As I said previously, I have not sought out the media and spoke briefly with only one reporter from Syracuse where the case was initially decided. Nor do I have control over what the media reports or how they choose to report it. What is beyond me, is why you continue to perpetuate media reporting that is evidently negative on such an important issue.

The facts in this case are NOT an issue unlike the majority of other gun cases that make it to court. The fact I served in the military as a Navy SEAL and have years of experience handling many different types of small arms in a case about firearm restrictions is not playing up anything. The fact that a terrorist group claimed thousands of lives in NY, VA, & PA in a single day and continue to pose a significant threat at home and abroad is to me, relevant, particularly when, as here NY continues to disarm law-abidng citizens of sister States at its border. And just so there is no misunderstanding, the facts of this case focus neither on terrorism nor my military background. Rather, the facts focus on violent crime and the rights of individuals to have an effective means of protecting themselves and family members from violent criminal acts when traveling interstate. The fact is, NY has some of the toughest gun control laws in the Nation and not suprisingly, some of the hightest violent crime rates. When I filed the lawsuit in 2002, NY accounted for well over 100,000 violent crimes per year according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics. So rather than continue to trash the plaintiff and brag about your organization turning down a case that argues for the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms, why not provide some constructive support.

Perhaps when I return from my tour of duty in Iraq we can get together and discuss the case in person rather than in this forum. Your organization certainly could do a lot of good by helping in any future proceedings such as filing a well written amicus brief.

Dave Bach
Bach v. Pataki

I recently relocated to New York state from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Before I did, I commuted here from Philadelphia almost every weekend. While a Pennsylvania resident, I possessed a firearms permit that allowed me to carry concealed throughout the Commonwealth. As a former active-duty USMC Reconnaissance Marine [thus, regrettably, unlikely to be confused by even the uninformed or ignorant as a SchwarzenSeagalVanDamme-type] and a then, Assistant District Attorney for the City and County of Philadelphia [certainly to be confused by all as a Lawyer], I shared Mr. Bach's dilemma at the border. Once I eventually re-located, I was completely devastated to learn the painful details of New York state's draconian hand-gun licensing requirements, offered exclusively to NYS residents (or those determined to be close enough as wannabees). I was also dumbfounded to learn that my outrage was neither shared nor appreciated by so-called gun-right activists in this state.

After having lived in this state for over two years now, I have formed the opinion that Jacob J. Rieper's mind-set is a reflection of an almost pacifist attitude unwittingly shared by some New York state "gun-right activists" in the face of astounding and long-in-the-tooth gun-right restrictions, even amongst executive members of an association dedicated to "the preservation of Second Amendment rights" in a state where such rights are minimal at best and not very numerous to preserve.

The case of Bach v. Pataki most certainly should have been championed by groups such as the NYSRPA. A decision to support it should not have been based on misplaced analysis of "first-hand" perusings of anti-gun-right-biased local newspapers or the resentment of the real-to-all-those-with-their-head-out-of-the-sand rationale Bach may have presented for carrying, according, that is, to Mr. Rieper and the newspaper articles he chose to believe. Apparently, the NYSRPA exercised its "considerable discretion in deciding whether to grant" its support much like it has come to expect and accept the same from a local licensing officer's subjective determination of who rates to exercise a 2d Amendment right or not.

NYSRPA is a substantial organization in this state. Although it does monitor the legislative process here as it concerns firearms and hunting issues and provides reports to members, it does so in cryptic updates only one steeped in Albanyese could decipher. Beyond that and as a new NYS resident and NYSRPA member, I have not seen any form of substantial grass-roots efforts to utilize the organization's significant organizational or lobbying potential to erode the anti-gun-bias-malaise afflicting nearly every long-time resident of this state. The size of the fight in the dog should be as big as the size of the dog in the fight -- judging from Mr. Rieper's comments and the NYSRPA's decision to let Bach's case hang out to dry, that dog isn't in it and doesn't seem to want to be.

Godspeed to you there in the Box, Mr. Bach. O'DubhGhaill sends.