US Legal Advocacy Group Seeks Nationwide Ban On Guns At Public Protests

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The threat of violence by protesters during Wednesday's inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden illustrates the need for a nationwide ban on firearms, which would likely survive a constitutional challenge, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a press release on Tuesday.

"In light of reports of possible violence in Washington and state capitals in the coming days, we join together to affirm the authority of state and Federal governments to prohibit weapons, including guns, at public protests," the ACLU.

The ACLU was joined by a Everytown, a prominent anti-gun-violence group in issuing the release, which accused Trump supporters of waging an "armed insurrection" in a January 6 takeover of the US Capitol.

At least five people reportedly died in the riot followed by an FBI warning that participants and their sympathizers planned demonstrations at state capitals throughout the US to disrupt the inauguration.

Police found several guns among the thousands who stormed the Capitol building, in response to a call by President Donald Trump to protest results of November's presidential election.

Limits on carrying weapons at public protests would not violate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which allows private gun ownership, because of a historic tradition of firearms prohibitions in sensitive public places, the release said.

The release cited past Supreme Court decisions allowing reasonable regulations on guns to further public safety.

As far back as 1937, the ACLU refused to defend marchers who insisted they had a constitutional right to carry weapons, the release said.

Everytown, an advocacy group founded in 2013, seeks a ban on laws enacted by several US states allowing the open carry of firearms, according to the release.