Today marks a great moment in American history. This is a landmark decision. It is a vindication for the great majority of American citizens who have always believed the Second Amendment was an individual right and freedom worth defending.
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Victory is when law abiding men and women can get up, go out, and buy and own a firearm. This is a monumental day. But NRA will not rest until every law-abiding American citizen is able to exercise the individual right to buy and own a firearm for self defense or any other lawful purpose.Justice Alito wrote the decision on the 5-4 (the Heller majority) vote.
On the way to the airport...more as our experts have a chance to analyze the decision...
12 comments:
Hot Damn! good news; however the AP report i read made it sound like it was a "narrow" victory (i guess the 5-4 decision), and indicated that this would only "limit" the ability to regulate guns... (maybe they were not as excited about it thatn we?)... From that description, my fear is that places like Chicago will now play the DC game of just developing irritatingly tedious and expensive hoops and hurtles to mitigate the freedom for exercising this RIGHT. Looks like more court time may be necessary!
Thanks should go to Alan Gura, the Second Amendment Foundation, and Illinois State Rifle Association for all that they have done to make this a reality. I'd love to see the 7th Circuit make Chicago pay lawyer's fee to Gura!
Gura is now two and oh before the Supreme Court.
This is huge, but it is still just one small step. There will be many, many more legal battles.
Where this opinion comes short is in the articulation of a standard of review for 2A cases. It leaves open the question as to whether courts can use rational basis (would allow most laws to continue), or would require strict scrutiny (would overturn most laws), or an intermediate level (promotes much more case by case analysis, and ensures plenty of work for lawyers down the road).
No, Heller explicitly rejected rational basis scrutiny.
However, it did otherwise leave open the question of level of scrutiny, as does McDonald, so intermediate or strict scrutiny are still both on the table.
Outstanding! This is not the end,however, just the start of many years of lawsuits to follow.
The Heller decision did not exactly preclude rational basis. It merely offered dicta expressing that rational basis is probably not appropriate while expressly avoiding a ruling on standard of review. A lower court could easily apply rational basis, uphold a draconian law, and send the issue back up through the appeals process.
While I celebrate both the Heller and the McDonald decisions, I am saddened by the role that the NRA has played or rather didn't play. In both cases they did not lead. The old saying of "lead, follow or get out of the way" comes to mind. Props to Alan Gura and his firm, and Alan Gottleib of SAF. They are the ones that went on point for our rights. Meanwhile LaPierre and Cox were cutting deals on the Disclose act. I have this feeling that in the next couple of years the NRA is going to see another revolt. A much needed housecleaning. Sad.
Disgusting to see how LaPierre is riding on Gura's coattails while making backroom deals to shut down groups like SAF and JPFO....
Throw the bums out....of Congress AND the NRA....
5-4
that is terrifying. could easily become 4-5. Kagan replaces another marxist, so what? only Kagan is young and will be with us for a long time....
Limbaugh remarked about how scary 5-4 was and 'what if it was the
1st that was being ruled on'
Rush....I got news for you.....it is the 2nd that preserves the 1st and dont forget it.
As Constitutional Patriots, we need to strike the word "believe" from our vocabulary, or at least reserve it for describing our superstitions, if we have any. The Constitution and Bill of Rights hold "truths the we hold as self-evident". Likewise, economists, the real ones, know that the Laws of Economics are as sound as the Law of gravity and they apply them as appropriate. The same holds for scientists who truly understand and know the possible causes of climate change and our role in it.
Progressives and other liberals can still resort to using "We (I) believe......." As in: "We believe that this "Stimulus (a. k. a.: 'spending') Bill" will create jobs and save the economy." and "We believe that the Second Amendment only refers to the military.", and on and on. They use this tactic over and over to inculcate the citizenry into accepting their rubbish as fact.
We can be so bold, as to assert that we know!
Life Member
"that is terrifying. could easily become 4-5."
Elections have consequences, don't they?
I'd like to tattoo that on the foreheads of every purist stay-at-home from the 2008 election. When they sat out they effectively voted for Sotomayor and Kagan and ???
(and that ??? is the really scary part)
From the Wall Street Journal Today (Editorial "Five Gun Salute":
"All of this suggests that the liberals have decided to bide their time and wait for a fifth vote so they can overturn both Heller and McDonald. This means that the matter of Second Amendment rights is far from settled, and the National Rifle Association and other advocates had better keep their legal guard up."
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