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What Right Does Heller Recognize?

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held "that the District's ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense."  Slip op. at 64. David Kopel, writing at the Volokh Conpsiracy, concluded that "District of Columbia v. Heller clearly establishes self-defense (not just gun ownership for self-defense) as a constitutional right."  Orin Kerr disagreed:  Off the top of my head, I tend to disagree with this claim about the scope of Heller. The fact that the Constitution protects a constitutional right to do X when it serves interest Y does not mean that there is a constitutional right to serve interest Y unrelated to X...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on July 15, 2008 (boomark / email).