Bad News for the Second Amendment
On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Maryland Supreme Court in a case (Williams v. State) that presented a perfect opportunity for the Court to clarify the scope of the Second Amendment.
Over the last couple years, lower courts have consistently undermined the Second Amendment rights upheld by SCOTUS in Heller and McDonald. At least a dozen federal and state courts have held that the Second Amendment does not guarantee any right to have a gun outside the home. This extraordinary conclusion simply ignores the Supreme Court’s statement in Heller that the phrase “to bear Arms” means to “wear, bear, or carry . . . upon the person or in the clothing or in a pocket, for the purposes. . . of being armed.” According to the lower courts, you’ve got the right to “carry” your gun from the kitchen to the living room, and that’s about it.
In Maryland, the law prohibits individuals from carrying arms – openly or concealed. In this case, a man named Charles Williams was found carrying his gun from his girlfriend’s house to his own home. There was no evidence at all that he did so with any criminal intent. The Supreme Court’s refusal to set the record straight will, I’m afraid, simply embolden lower courts that have upheld virtually every gun control law that has been challenged since the Heller and McDonald rulings.
In related news, the DC Circuit upheld DC’s gun control laws, which were adopted after the Supreme Court struck down the old laws in a case brought by retired cop Dick Heller. Heller wasn’t satisfied so he sued again (thus the case is known as “Heller II”). The District’s registration requirements, though onerous (fingerprinting, background checks, firing range training) were held to be consistent with “longstanding” practices. Well, yes, but before 2007, we were laboring under a “longstanding” misinterpretation of the Second Amendment.
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Comments :
Sep '10
Re: Bad News for the Second Amendment
I live in California, so I'm getting a kick out of this...
Not really, but the 2nd amendment doesn't reach all the way to Fresno, as anyone will tell you. But, geez, we're ahead of Maryland in that we can open carry, unloaded (theoretically). These are sad days for liberty, but not without hope.
Also - Alan Keyes is a birther? Who knew?
Jul '10
Re: Bad News for the Second Amendment
Think I'd be more surprised if he wasn't.
Re: Bad News for the Second Amendment
Wylee Coyote
Think I'd be more surprised if he wasn't. · Oct 5 at 1:22pm
Wylee, I see what you mean, but I have to admit, that caught me by surprise.