Tuesday night, I spoke before the Bonner County Republican Party Central Committee (all elected county officials in Bonner county are Republicans right now), in support of a resolution (which I had a small part in writing) supporting the second amendment and: “Strongly urging” the county commission (all commissioners are Republicans) to enact an ordnance 1. […]
This past Monday, Samuel Alito, writing for the majority (with separate concurring opinions from Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia) in the case McDonald vs. City of Chicago and Village of Morton Grove; handed down what in 30 years will I believe, be held as one of (or perhaps half of a pair of, or the […]
Today’s controversy burning up Memeorandum is a revelation concerning Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s previously expressed views on the Second Amendment: May 13 (Bloomberg) — Elena Kagan said as a U.S. Supreme Court law clerk in 1987 that she was “not sympathetic” toward a man who contended that his constitutional rights were violated when he […]
One of the issues left unresolved by the Supreme Court’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller was whether the Court’s interpretation of the Second Amendment as an individual right applied to state and local governments. The last time the Court had the opportunity to rule on the issue, in 1886, in the case Presser […]
During the course of her confirmation hearing today, Sonia Sotomayor had a very interesting exchange with Senator Tom Coburn over the right to keep and bear arms: In a prickly exchange over gun control, Sen. Tom Coburn tried hard to get Sonia Sotomayor to explain what she actually thinks about the right to bear arms. […]
One of the many issues left unresolved by last year’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller was the question of whether or not the Court’s holding, and the Second Amendment in general, would apply to the states. Back in 1886, in the case Presser v. Illinois, the Supreme Court specifically held that the Second […]
This morning, the 9th circuit court of appeals confirmed that the 2nd amendment is indeed incorporated against the states under the selective incorporation doctrine, in the case Nordyke Vs. King. This means that the 2nd amendment has a lawful status equivalent to that of the first, fourth, fifth, and other amendments which explicitly protect our […]
Last year’s Supreme Court case hasn’t stopped the District of Columbia from passing arbitrary gun laws clearly designed to restrict it’s citizens’ Second Amendment rights: A D.C. woman filed suit in U.S. District Court yesterday, claiming that the city would not let her register a pistol because of its color. Tracey A. Hanson argued that […]
Earlier today, I participated in a conference call with Missouri governor Matt Blunt, on the subject of gun rights, John McCain, and Barack Obama. You may recall that recently, the Obama campaign worked directly with democratic party elected officials in the state of Missouri; engaging prosecutors and county sheriffs, to intimidate local media outlets, and […]
Just over a month after the United States Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban, the man who brought that case is suing the District again over it’s response to the Supreme Court’s ruling: The man who successfully challenged the D.C. handgun ban before the U.S. Supreme Court filed a second federal […]
DC City Council Chairman Vincent Gray, on the District’s new gun legislation: We’re trying to figure out how close we can get to where we were before. Judging from the “emergency” law, which continues to ban semiautomatic weapons and requires trigger locks or the firearm to be disassembled at all times (except when used against […]
This morning, I’m noting a lot of ill informed …or perhaps just informed by misunderstanding of the text… opinions and statements regarding the historic Heller ruling on the scope and applicability of the 2nd amendment. This of course is unsurprising when many people of varying levels of knowledge about law, history, and firearms have just […]
Given that the D.C. vs. Heller ruling is a historically important ruling for the Second Amendment and given that the next president could appoint between two and three Justices to the Supreme Court over the next four years, I think the responses from Bob Barr, John McCain, and Barack Obama might give us some insight […]
After nearly two centuries of silence, the Supreme Court today struck down a District of Columbia gun ban and affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first […]
I watched/listened to the oral arguments in DC vs. Heller this morning, and in my view (solely based on my knowledge of the justices, and the questions and arguments raised today; which is always iffy) we’re looking at a mixed bag. Well, first the good news. It seems clear that the entirety of the court, […]
The Supreme Court had allotted 75 mintues for oral argument in D.C. v. Heller today — 30 minutes for each side and 15 minutes for the U.S. Solicitor General — but they actually ended up running nearly half an hour longer as the Justices considered the interpretation and application of an Amendment that has been […]
Beginning at 10am today and lasting for 75 minutes, the United States Supreme Court will hear argument in the most significant Second Amendment cases ever to come before it. Today, in the Boston Herald, Robert Levy, one of the lead attorneys for the citizens in the case, gives a preview of the argument he’ll be […]
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in District of Columber v. Heller, the case challenging the District of Columbia’s decades-old and near-complete ban on gun ownership by city residents. At stake is interpretation of an Amendment that has received almost no judicial scrutiny in 209 years since it was enacted. One blogger, former […]
On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court will hear argument in what is clearly the most important Second Amendment case in decades: Despite mountains of scholarly research, enough books to fill a library shelf and decades of political battles about gun control, the Supreme Court will have an opportunity this week that is almost unique […]
Last week I wrote a post about how Barack Obama was trying to have it both ways on the Second Amendment. Ken Blackwell at Townhall.com, however, believes that Obama’s doublespeak about the Second Amendment (among some of Obama’s other statements) reveals a disturbing pattern in his attitudes about individual rights and a host of other […]