Attorney General Mike Cox today announced he has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) challenge of a City of Chicago ordinance banning possession of most handguns.

Cox joined at least 33 other states in supporting the NRA's request for the court to hear an appeal in National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago, a local case with national implications.

"The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental," said Cox. "The Supreme Court recognized this in the Heller case, and I am confident they will protect this right yet again. No government should impinge on the basic right to defend yourself."

The amicus, supporting the NRA's petition for a Writ of Certiorari to appeal the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' June decision favoring the City of Chicago, will be filed with the court today. Below are passages from the amicus brief:

"As our Founding Fathers recognized, and as this Court recently reaffirmed in District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008), the right to keep and bear arms secured by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is a critical liberty interest, essential to preserving individual security and the right to self-defense...

"Accordingly, the Court should grant the petitions and hold that the Second Amendment secures a 'fundamental' right that can no more be abrogated by local government than by the federal government."

Cox previously signed an amicus in District of Columbia v. Heller, supporting the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. On June 26, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's gun ordinance in that case. Cox's efforts to protect gun rights also resulted in more states recognizing Michigan-issued CCW permits. When Cox took office in 2003, only eight states recognized Michigan-issued CCW permits. Today, 35 states recognize Michigan-issued CCW permits.

When he isn't running for governor, Mike Cox is Michigan's attorney general. And it was in his capacity as the state's top law enforcement officer that Cox announced with considerable fanfare Tuesday that his office has filed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a strict gun control ordinance in Chicago.

If you are wondering how a man with two full-time jobs has time to worry about what local officials in Illinois are up to, the press release issued by the AG's office ("Cox Joins NRA in Fight against Chicago Gun Ban") provides a clue.

Get it? Michigan's attorney general (did we mention he's running for governor?) is backing the National Rifle Association, which has the political clout to make or break gubernatorial wannabes like Cox and isn't afraid to use it, in its valiant fight against Chicagoans who want fewer handguns in their city.

And just to show he's not afraid to put your money where his political interests lie, Cox is deploying the AG's own taxpayer-supported staff to do it.

The obvious answer is that Cox is in that fight to curry favor with the one of the nation's most potent political lobbies. He wants his party's gubernatorial nomination, and he's pulling out all the stops to get it.

We just wish he would do it on his own time, and with his own money.

let's forget that Michigan's attorney general made his reputation as a homicide prosecutor in Detroit, where another fellow might have learned something about what the unregulated proliferation of handguns can do to a city.