Supreme Court and Second Amendment
KITTY PILGRIM, HOST: Tonight: Outrage after corporate elites try to replace middle-class Americans with cheap labor in one of this country's best known companies. And: Senator McCain is taking a space-based economic agenda to Mexico and Colombia in a push for so- called "free trade." We'll have it all of that and much more, straight ahead tonight.</s>ANNOUNCER: This is</s>LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK: News, debate and opinion. Here now: Kitty Pilgrim.</s>PILGRIM: Good evening, everybody. Gun rights have become a big issue on the campaign trail after a historic ruling by the Supreme Court. The justices ruled, for the first time, that individuals have the right to own guns for self- defense. The court is overturning a sweeping ban on handguns in Washington, D.C. Political reaction was swift. Senators McCain and Obama both declared the support for the Second Amendment, but Obama also said that there is still a place for what he called "common sense" gun laws. Jessica Yellin reports.</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From John McCain, a whole hearted embrace for the Supreme Court's ruling supporting gun ownership.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: Obviously, I'm very pleased about that decision. I had filed a brief along with 50-some- other senators. Senator Obama had declined to do that.</s>YELLIN: Barack Obama is trying to thread the needle on guns in this interview with Bloomberg TV...</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: I believe that the Second Amendment means something, that it is an individual right, and that's what the Supreme Court held.</s>YELLIN: He says he believes in gun rights, but also in gun laws.</s>OBAMA: There is still room for us, I think, to have some common sense gun laws that are also compatible with the Second Amendment.</s>YELLIN: It's a position of growing number of Democrats embrace as the party tries to expand it's base to include rural and suburban voters who tend to oppose gun restrictions. According to latest CNN Poll 67 percent of all Americans and 70 percent of independents believe the Constitution guarantees a right to own a gun. Both Al Gore and John Kerry fumbled by appearing too liberal or awkward on the issue. In 2006, Democrats regained the Senate, in part, by running a new breed of pro-gun Democrats including Senators Jim Webb, Jon Tester and Bob Casey. One Democratic strategist says other candidates are learning from their example.</s>JIM KESSLER, THIRD WAY: Let's look at the reality. There are 280 million guns in private hands in America. That's enough guns for every man, woman and child over the age of five to have a gun. I think it makes sense for anybody whether it's a Democrat or Republican to speak to those folks that have a gun in the home.</s>YELLIN (on camera): Barack Obama will still have to overcome concerns about his now infamous gaffe about "bitter" and frustrated people who cling to their guns, but he's trying to push through that anxiety by focusing on the substance on his position supporting gun rights, but also gun laws. Jessica Yellin, CNN, New York.</s>PILGRIM: Well, Senator Obama's position on gun control has changed significantly in recent months. In November of last year, the Obama campaign said, quote, "He believes the D.C. handgun law is constitutional." But that was before Obama won the long battle for his party's presidential nomination. And after the Supreme Court ruling Thursday, Obama declared, quote, "I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals to bear arms." Now as Jessica Yellin reported, Obama can't afford to lose the support of independent voters who back gun rights. Joining me now, for more on the Supreme Court ruling, one of the best legal analysts of the country, we are joined in Washington, D.C. by Jonathan Turley. He's a professor of law at George Washington University. And thanks very much for joining us, Jonathan.</s>PROF. JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Thank you.</s>PILGRIM: Your thoughts on the decision?</s>TURLEY: Well, you know, it's historic and it's historic in a number of ways, but the most important way is that we're unlikely in our lifetime to see a new right, perhaps the recognition of an old right, in the Bill of Rights. You know, this is a pretty important thing. And whether you consider this as a new right or something that was long unrecognized, it is a very important milestone for the Bill of Rights. Every aspect of the Bill of Rights, every comma, every clause has been a subject to a dozen decisions, but somewhere between the First and Third Amendments, the court tended to avoid the issue until now. About 170 years this last time they dealt with it in the Miller case, and they really have tried to avoid this for so many years. And many people feel it's a great blunder of the D.C. mayor and the attorney general of D.C. to bring the case, because the predictions were that this was inevitable a five-four decision. And it seemed to be motivated more by political than legal judgment because now, it's going to be applied across the country.</s>PILGRIM: Let me read what Justice Antonin Scalia said about the Second Amendment and I'd like our viewers to share this. "Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our nation, and where well-trained police forces provide personal security and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct." That's a very strong support of the Second Amendment, correct?</s>TURLEY: It is. But, you know, there are many liberals and libertarians that agree with Justice Scalia's analysis. It is hard to read the Second Amendment and not see an individual right of ownership. And it also puts liberals on the top position. You can't have a broad and robust interpretation of the amendments on either side of the Second Amendment but not that one.</s>PILGRIM: Well, let me read Justice Stephen Breyer wrote. Dissenting opinion, "There is simply no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in a crime-ridden urban area." What do you make of that?</s>TURLEY: Well, you know, first of all, I have to say that I've been a critic on many occasions of the court and the quality of its work, but this is not one of those cases. All three of these opinions were magnificent. They were very well argued and I think anyone reading them on either side has to accept that there are strong arguments on both sides, good faith disagreement. But now, the Supreme Court has answered the question -- it is an individual right of ownership, and what we're going to have to look at in the next few years is how the court balances that right with legitimate or reasonable limitations. And we're going to the find some resting point as in the next few years to what laws, like Chicago, are likely to be struck down and what laws are likely to survive.</s>PILGRIM: All right. Thank you very much Jonathan Turley. Thank you, sir.</s>TURLEY: It's my pleasure.</s>PILGRIM: Another top issue subject on the campaign trail is religion and politics. An influential evangelical, Dr. James Dobson, accused Senator Obama of distorting the Bible. He also said Obama has what he called a "fruitcake" interpretation of our Constitution. Bill Schneider reports on the influence of religion on the presidential campaign.</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALSYT (voice-over): James Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, is using his radio broadcast this week to respond to something Barack Obama said two years ago when he gave the speech about ways to bridge the divide between religious and secular Americans. Obama called on the secular Americans to show greater respect for religious values.</s>OBAMA: Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.</s>SCHNEIDER: He also called on evangelical leaders to define their agenda in terms of common values.</s>OBAMA: Democracy demands that the religiously-motivated translate their concerns into universal rather than religion-specific values.</s>SCHNEIDER: Dobson's response? (</s>BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY) JAMES DOBSON, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: What he's trying to say here is, unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe. I thank God that that's not what the Constitution says.</s>SCHNEIDER: Take abortion. The public is sharply divided on the issue. Obama advised abortion opponents...</s>OBAMA: That explained why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.</s>SCHNEIDER: Dobson's response -- that's nonsense. (</s>BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY) DOBSON: What the senator is saying there in essence is that I can't seek to pass legislation for example that bans partial birth abortion because there are people in the culture who don't see that as a moral issue. And if I can't get everyone to agree with me, it is unDemocratic to try to pass legislation that I find offensive to the scripture. Now, that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.</s>SCHNEIDER: That's why we have election, Dobson argues, to fight for our values. Obamas believes elections should be more about finding common ground. (on camera): Obama's campaign has responded with a statement that, quote, "Barack Obama is committed to reaching out to people of faith," unquote, adding that a full reading of his 2006 speech shows that. This is a dispute over values and values are much harder to compromise than interests. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.</s>PILGRIM: Still to come, Senator McCain is taking his free trade message to foreign countries. We'll tell you all about that. Also: The biggest salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes and the federal government hasn't a clue where it began. And, one community is standing united against corporate elites trying to replace middle-class Americans with cheap labor from overseas.