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What might Second Amendment strict scrutiny mean for strict gun laws?

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this article in today's Washington Post and this post at SCOTUSblog, attorneys for respondent Dick Heller filed this brief in the Supreme Court assailing the constitutionality of DC's gun restrictions under the Second Amendment.  Among many interesting aspect of the brief is a section calling for the "highest level of scrutiny for regulations implicating Second Amendment rights."  Here are some intriguing (and puzzling) excerpts from this part of the brief:The Second Amendment has the distinction of securing the most fundamental rights of all ? enabling the preservation of one?s life and guaranteeing our liberty. These are not second-class concerns. .... If a gun law is to be upheld, it should be upheld precisely because the government has a compelling interest in its regulatory impact...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on February 05, 2008 (boomark / email).