Warren Burger was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court by President Richard Nixon in 1969 and was the longest serving Supreme Court Chief Justice of the 20th century serving 17 years in that position. Burger's BIO reports he played an important role in several republican gubernatorial campaigns in the 1930's and 1940's and played a key role in the republican nomination of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952. After Ike became President, he appointed Burger U.S. Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and in 1955 nominated him to the U.S. Court of Appeals where he served for 13 years. In 1988 Burger was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Nixon and many republicans were not happy that the Burger court did not reverse some of the previous supreme court decisions they disagreed with, especially the Miranda decision. In 1991 Burger was interviewed on the MacNeil/Lehrer news hour where he took aim at the NRA and said the following according to his BIO and I quote.
THE SECOND AMENDMENT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF ONE OF THE GREATEST PIECES OF FRAUD, I REPEAT THE WORD FRAUD, ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC BY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFETIME. THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HE STIRRED THE GUN LOBBY'S IRE EVEN FURTHER STATING THAT THE SECOND AMENDMENT DOESN'T GUARANTEE THE RIGHT TO HAVE FIREARMS AT ALL. IN HIS OPINION THE SECOND AMENDMENT'S PURPOSE WAS BEING DISTORTED FROM ITS ORIGINAL INTENT OF ENSURING THAT THE STATE ARMIES --THE MILITIA WOULD BE MAINTAINED FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE STATE.
This writer believes that the former chief Justice knows just a little bit more about the second amendment than the NRA and the republican party in congress. The second amendment reads as follows: A WELL REGULATED MILITIA BEING NECESSARY TO THE SECURITY OF A FREE STATE, THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.
Note: Militia's have to be authorized by the government.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
