Defend your right to bear arms (and bare thighs)
**UPDATE: Please see my additional commentary on this event at the Fox Forum. In “Supreme Court Rules for Gun Owners: A Victory and a Warning” I expand on the warning this decision gives us about the justices themselves.**
In another 5-4 decision, this time with the Conservative 4 joined by Kennedy, SCOTUS today struck down Washington, DC’s draconian handgun ban. This is good news to say the least, but a vote which is far too close for anyone’s comfort. The fact that Kennedy the Internationalist, of all people, is the “swing vote” on this court is unacceptable and places the future of this country and all of our individual rights at risk.
High court strikes down gun ban
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a sweeping ban on handguns in the nation’s capital violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The justices voted 5-4 against the ban, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing the opinion for the majority.
At issue in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether Washington’s ban violated the right to “keep and bear arms” by preventing individuals — as opposed to state militias — from having guns in their homes. “Undoubtedly some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of our nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security and where gun violence is a serious problem,” Scalia wrote. “That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”
Scalia was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who are all considered conservative voices on the court. Justice Anthony Kennedy, often seen as a swing vote, also joined the majority.
Here’s the SCOTUS blog link and…
McCain responds lauding the decision:
“Today’s decision is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. For this first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers. I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense.
“Unlike Senator Obama, who refused to join me in signing a bipartisan amicus brief, I was pleased to express my support and call for the ruling issued today. Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans. Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right…sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.
“This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms. But today, the Supreme Court ended forever the specious argument that the Second Amendment did not confer an individual right to keep and bear arms.”
Maynard’s note: For further details and background of this important case, see Tammy’s post of November 22, 2007, and my posts of March 9, 2007 and January 22, 2007.
I’m in total shock about this. I honestly did not believe they would uphold the 2nd amendment. Considering how the Court has punched holes in our Consitituion, I thought they would rule in favor of the municipalities.
As a resident of Chicago, the city has the same law as DC. And wouldn’t you know, shootings have skyrocted. But guess who has the guns?? The good old gangbangers and drug dealers. Leaving those who live in the inner cities, sitting ducks!! I’m going find a shooting gallary, I want to learn how to use a gun. I think I’ll ask my father!!
This is McCain’s best chance. Now that we have seen how close we came to losing our 2nd amendment rights, all McCain has to do is guarantee that his court nominations will uphold 2nd amendment rights. With that guarantee, even I would vote for McCain—-but not with any glee.
In a comment I left on a previous Tammy post,I made a remark about Justice Kennedy being on one side of the fence today and on the other side tomorrow…and he did it again! But whenever Kennedy votes with the Conservatives,he almost always leaves a door open for future generations to challenge the Court’s decision. But as Tammy noted,this decision was very close. One more liberal judge on the Court and todays outcome would have been much different.
That was the first thing I noticed – that 4 Justices voted against the 2nd Amendment. It’s not going to happen, but they should impeach any Justices that don’t understand the clear meaning of the Bill of Rights being RIGHTS for the PEOPLE.
Tammy: I suspect I’ll be anticipating what you’re going to say on Fox (I haven’t had the chance to visit there having just read the majority decision in Heller), but I’ll go ahead anyway.
This decision will make it harder on the gun banners, but will not stop them. Witness DC Mayor Fenty asserting that “automatic and semiautomatic” handguns may still be banned. As long as there are dishonest politicians willing to spend the people’s money to force the courts to reclaim each and every inch of Second Amendment territory not absolutely and completely fenced in by the Supreme Court today, we’ll have a long litigation future ahead of us.
It is stunning that four Supreme Court Justices voted against a specifically enumerated individual right, enumerated in the Bill of Rights. This does indeed point out the necessity of never putting into the White House anyone who believes that judges should ignore the law and judge with their ‘hearts” as the Obamessiah has proclaimed. Should he be elected, we could easily expect a future court to side with Mayor Fenty and declare that semi automatic handguns could be banned. If the Constitution is not the benchmark for Supreme Court decision making, what would stop such a decision from being handed down?