Jews For The Preservation
of Firearms Ownership, Inc.
P.O. Box 270143
Hartford, WI 53027
Phone (800) 869-1884
Fax (425) 451-3959
Who Will Decide Your Fate? The Jury is Out …
By Aaron Zelman & Richard W. Stevens
“Better to be judged by 12 than to be carried by six.”
We’ve all said it, but is it true? Is it still better to shoot an attacker in honest self-defense and count on a jury finding you not guilty of murder? Or should you surrender and risk being murdered yourself?
The answer depends upon the jury.
Some might say that the answer depends upon what the law says about self-defense. Certainly the law matters a great deal, but in America the law does not decide whether you shot an intruder or a carjacker in self-defense, or whether you committed manslaughter or murder. The jury decides.
Legal Risks in Self-Defense
It’s not always a life and death matter. Suppose you show a thug your sidearm to scare him away. The local prosecutor might charge you with “brandishing.” Because “brandishing” is a criminal charge, and thanks to the Sixth Amendment, you have a right to jury trial. Who decides whether you rightfully or wrongfully displayed your defense tool? The jury decides.
Andrew F. Branca, attorney and author of The Law of Self Defense, stated the harsh reality: “The citizen who uses force in self-defense should expect to be charged with a crime, ranging from a form of homicide to assault and battery.”
If you face a criminal trial, then you’ll face a jury. Questions will torment you: “Does the jury share my values? Do most people understand the right to self-defense?”
If you have used a firearm in defense, you might be charged only with a firearms violation – some violation of “gun control” laws. That misdemeanor or felony charge will lead you to a jury trial. You’ll pray, wonder, and worry: “Do the jurors understand the right to keep and bear arms? Do they hate guns and gun ownership?”
Right now, after the September 11 terror attack, more people have awakened to the logic and reality of self-defense. Maybe right at this moment jurors would be more inclined to understand self-defense. But because the major media, organized “gun control” lobbyists and the educational establishment remain firmly anti-self defense and anti-gun, this awakening will die away soon … unless we can permanently ingrain the message into American hearts and minds.
To Despise The Victim-Makers
We must seize the day. We must deliver and reinforce the truth about civilian self-defense -- now while many people are open to it.
At the same time, we must so powerfully deliver that message that people will come, not just to disagree with “gun control,” but to absolutely despise the idea of victim disarmament. The way Americans, even criminals in prison, detest child molesters, so should Americans detest people who want to convert armed citizens into powerless patsies.
To bring Americans to understand our message, we must communicate to them through their hearts and minds. Our brand new book does that: Death By “Gun Control”: The Human Cost of Victim Disarmament.
David Kopel, the highly-accomplished author, attorney and scholar at the Independence Institute, has called it “one of the best books ever written about the right to keep and bear arms.”
Offering a woman’s perspective, Wendy McElroy, author and columnist on Foxnews.com, described Death by “Gun Control” as “a pleasure to read because of its clear-sighted and humanitarian concern for the victims who were stripped of self-defense.”
Help Fellow Citizens Understand … And Act
Many pro-self defense Americans are hoping for a Supreme Court ruling to affirm the recent Emerson case holding: that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right. Would a popular groundswell of support for our rights encourage the Court to rule favorably for the Second Amendment? Of course.
Use this book, Death by “Gun Control”, to help build the popular support that we need both among the judges and especially among the juries who will decide cases of firearms ownership and self-defense.
Help move America today. Order several copies of Death by “Gun Control” for yourself and to help others understand. It’s easy to read & use. Only $16.95, postage paid. Call (800) 869-1884 or click on www.jpfo.org. Bonus with each book: two free Gran’pa Jack booklets are included. Call for volume pricing.