Charlton Heston’s legacy
Ken Odor
Apr 08, 2008

His death should serve as a reminder that protecting the rights of citizens is a never-ending battle.

Actor Charlton Heston died last weekend at 84. The legendary film star is best known for his portrayal of the lead character in the 1959 film “Ben Hur,” for which he won an Oscar.

Heston hadn’t appeared in films for some time, not only because he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but because late in life he took on an unpopular cause in modern America – the defense of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1998 he was elected president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), during a time when the Second Amendment to the nation’s founding document was under assault by forces from all sides.

The Clinton administration’s justice department and various scholars insisted the right to bear arms described in the Second Amendment was an imaginary “collective” right, to be exercised by the National Guard only. Predatory lawsuits against firearms manufacturers were proliferating, brought by big city mayors’ intent on achieving by litigation what they had not been able to achieve by legislation – the destruction of the domestic firearms industry.

Heston’s personal fame and his resonant voice and powerful delivery of the spoken word helped grow the membership of the NRA, turning it into what many have called the nation’s strongest lobbying organization.

Ten years after Heston took the helm of the NRA, things have changed.

The “assault weapons ban” was not renewed by Congress, which also passed legislation protecting the firearms industry.

“Right to carry” laws spread across the country, adopted by states like Virginia. Where one once had to prove a need to carry a weapon, now the state must show why a law-abiding citizen should not be allowed to exercise that right.

And in Washington, the Supreme Court appears poised to throw out D.C.’s ban on its residents owning handguns later this year.

Heston would have been gratified at how much progress has been made toward securing a fundamental freedom.

At the same time, he likely would be alarmed by the likelihood that a Democratic president, in league with a Democratic Congress, could begin an assault on this right all over again next year.

His death should serve as a reminder that protecting the rights of citizens is a never-ending battle.

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