Miscellaneous

Supreme Court Allows Heston to Keep Handgun in Cold, Dead Hands

Unsurprisingly, and by another 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court just handed down it's ruling on the D.C. handgun ban, ruling that it was unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment. The biggest surprise to me, I suppose, is that there were four justices on the Court that actually decided to read the Constitutional more literally, i.e., limiting the right to bear arms to "militias." I haven't read the opinion yet, but I guess that also means that the strict constructionists on the Court -- Scalia, specifically, who wrote for the majority -- went against the literal interpretation of the Constitution, and extended the right to bear arms to individuals.

And can you believe it -- Scalia based part of the decision on legislative history and arms-bearing rights in state constitutions. What a hypocrite. But, with Stevens -- writing for the minority -- scoffing at legislative history, it really does come down to politics. These Justices will bend law and Constitutional text any way they can to fit it into their own political biases. That's nothing you don't already know.

All well: If you piggyback this decision onto yesterday's decision to give the death penalty to child rapists, at least a parent still has the ability to buy a gun and shoot the rapist. Woo-hoo! Long live vengeance!

Full post as published by Quiz Law on June 26, 2008 (boomark / email).