The ACLU gets an earful from their readers

From the ACLU Blog page on the Heller Decision, the ACLU starts by posting their official position on Heller...

The ACLU interprets the Second Amendment as a collective right. Therefore, we disagree with the Supreme Court’s decision in D.C. v. Heller. While the decision is a significant and historic reinterpretation of the right to keep and bear arms, the decision leaves many important questions unanswered that will have to be resolved in future litigation, including what regulations are permissible, and which weapons are embraced by the Second Amendment right that the Court has now recognized.

Their readers, however, seem none too happy with this "retro" view of the 2nd Amendment. (Let's face it: Not even Justice Stevens pressed the moldy, old "collective rights" argument!) Here's a few choice comments...

• How can the ACLU (of which I’m a member) seriously consider the 2nd amendment to be a collective right, when there is not a single amendment in the bill of rights that refers to any collective or state rights, but rather individual rights and freedoms? Maybe this is something that the ACLU should logically address before taking this kind of a stance.

• I thought the ACLU’s purpose was to uphold the rights of American citizens, as dictated by the Supreme Court.

  Am I missing something?

• I just took the money I had slated to re-up my lapsed ACLU membership and used it to re-up my NRA membership.

  Sorry ACLU you lost me.

• ACLU, You’ve lost another American here. I will never donate a cent to your organization of crazy, intolerant lefties. The right to “keep and bear arms” as recognized by the 2nd Amendment is very clearly stated in the Bill of Rights. Only those who are either outright liars or power-hungry liars see it differently.You lose and will continue to lose. Your arguments are incredibly lame.

And my favorite...

• Q: How does an ACLU lawyer count to 10?
  A: 1, 3, 4, 5 . . .

Many have accused the ACLU of being nothing more than a front for the liberal/progressive movement in the US; that they promote partisan political causes rather than protect freedoms. Their prior lack of support for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and their current stance on Heller give credence to that view. This is why we so often refer to the NRA, and not the ACLU, as being "the oldest and largest civil rights organization in America".