[fastpat]

The Second Amendment Foundation is taking the "Sporting Purpose" portion of federal firearms law to court. I say it's about time to get this 39 year old travesty off the books for good.

http://releases. usnewswire. com/GetRelease. asp?id=76853

SAF Lawsuit Defends Rights of Citizens Living Abroad, Challenges
'Sporting Purpose' Restriction

11/29/2006 12:39:00 PM

To: National Desk

Contact: Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation, 425-454-7012

BELLEVUE, Wash., Nov. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Second Amendment
Foundation today filed a lawsuit in federal court in Ohio,
challenging the "sporting purpose" limitation for firearms sales in
this country, and supporting the constitutional right of American
citizens living abroad to legally purchase firearms while in this country.

SAF and co-plaintiff Stephen Dearth of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, a
native citizen of the United States, are represented by the law firms
of Gura & Possessky (Virginia) and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (Ohio).

SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said "there is no 'sporting purpose'
limitation on the right to keep and bear arms in the language of the
Second Amendment."

"American citizens should not be penalized for living outside the
United States, but under current statute, they are," Gottlieb
explained. "There is no public safety rationale for laws or
regulations that prohibit a law-abiding citizen from exercising their
rights on American soil. We cannot allow a legal environment to exist
where the exercise of a civil right here at home is conditional to
one's country of residence.

"If Americans can have firearms for hunting, they can also have a gun
for self-defense, for pest control, for training purposes, for any
number of reasons, or for no reason at all, because the Second
Amendment is not about duck hunting or target shooting, and never has
been," he continued. "It's not a 'Bill of Needs' we're talking about,
it's a Bill of Rights.

"And those constitutional rights, guaranteed by birth right to every
American citizen, do not become null and void simply because an
individual lives in another country," Gottlieb said. "When a
law-abiding American citizen comes home for a visit, he or she should
be able to exercise their rights, including the Second Amendment
right to keep and bear arms, anywhere in the United States no matter
where they happen to live.

"We're bringing this case to the courts," Gottlieb concluded,
"because we believe the rights of American citizens, no matter where
they reside, are worth defending."

"We will continue to defend the rights of Americans against pointless
governmental interference. These laws serve no useful purpose. Dearth
cannot be denied his constitutional rights while inside the United States, merely because his home happens to be across the border,"
added Alan Gura, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs.