Read the opinion here – and a big H/T to
Buffoon at Democrat=Socialist for finding it so quickly!
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Breaking news from ABC – SCOTUS got something right… in the usual 5-4 vote.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the District of Columbia cannot ban a citizen from keeping a handgun at home, throwing out one of the nation’s strictest gun control laws.
The Supreme Court has overturned Washington, D.C.’s strict gun ban.The 5-4 decision marks first time the court has ever definitively addressed the issue, which had been one of the great unresolved constitutional questions as experts debated whether the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and carry a gun, or only a state’s right to arm a militia.
While statistics show that overall violent crime numbers are down in most big cities around the country, there has been an increase in crime in Washington DC, Cleveland and Baltimore. In the nation’s capital there were 181 murders in 2007.
The Brady gun control movement is less than thrilled.
Dennis A. Henigan, of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, says that the “whole purpose of the litigation is to achieve a Supreme Court precedent that they will use to attack many other laws.”
“This will inspire years and years of litigation and undercut the network of gun laws,” he said.
Haven’t seen the opinion yet, but will UPDATE when I find it available online. I suspect it’s the usual suspects on each side, with Justice Kennedy toeing the conservative line on this one. But not confirmed.
UPDATE 1: It was as suspected, Kennedy voting with Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito. Scalia wrote the opinon for the majority. Stevens wrote for dissenting justices with Breyer putting in an additional dissent. Still looking for links to all opinions.
Per the AP news:
Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.
The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home,” Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington’s requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns.
In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.”
He said such evidence “is nowhere to be found.”
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a separate dissent in which he said, “In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.”
The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.
The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.
The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.
The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.
Per a CNN article, this is the first head on collision for the justices and the scope of interpretation for 2nd Amendment.
The Supreme Court has avoided the question since the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791. The high court last examined the issue in 1939 but stayed away from the broad constitutional question.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.