The Supreme Court has handed down their decision on the Heller case. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, Heller was about whether or not individuals actually have the right to own firearms, as laid out pretty clearly in the 2nd Amendment. Well, amazingly enough, the US Supreme Court has determined that individuals do:
Answering a 127-year old constitutional question, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to have a gun, at least in one’s home. The Court, splitting 5-4, struck down a District of Columbia ban on handgun possession. Although times have changed since 1791, Justice Antonin Scalia said for the majority, “it is not the role of this Court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct.”
Two things immediately jump out:
1: Why wasn’t it 9-0?
2: If there was some question whether or no it was the USSC’s role to pronounce the 2nd Amendment extinct… is there a similar question regarding the 1st Amendment???
2 Responses to “Heller Decision”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
I think the fact that it was not 9-0 should tell you that your own conviction that it is clear cut is not shared by people who have studied this amendment a lot closer than you.
Perhaps. But then, people who have studied this amendment a lot more than *any* of us are quite clear that the issue is clear-cut. In fact, the wording of the amendment really is quite clear. In every other Constitutional usage of “The People,” the meaning has been “individuals,” not “the collective.” There is no logical reason why the definition of “People” should be changed for this one amendment.