donheff
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
We haven't had a good knock down for a while so I thought I would alter my feathers and join SamClem (I am guessing here) and some of the others for a change. I often give DW a ride to work in the morning and pass by the Supreme Court coming and going. Whenever a big oral argument is on the media is out in force and loads of people are lined up waiting for their 5 minutes in the gallery. This morning was a circus. The media were all staked out and the visitors' line reached around the corner and down the block at 8:00 AM. This was the longest line I have ever seen. The topic is the DC Gun law and the question: "is the right to keep and bear arms an individual or collective right?"
For some reason this one has always fascinated me, maybe because of the strange wording of the 2nd amendment. I read the decision of the DC Circuit Court which is a interesting tour through history. Basically, they argued that the right is individual and already existed under English common law at the time of the revolution. There had been a big brew ha-ha when the English government tried to disarm the populace. The circuit court held that the framers were saying that it is that pre-existing individual right that cannot be infringed. The lead in phrase about a well regulated militia being necessary for a free state simply set the context. Well regulated being synonymous with well armed (not organized by the state) and militia being a group of citizens who could quickly assemble to fight whatever enemy (including the state) might come along. Lots of other interesting stuff about the meaning of "arms" how militias could be established and provisioned, etc.
I'm not a gun nut but I do like target shooting. I own a shotgun (legal in DC if kept in a useless condition). But I would like to own a handgun. It was interesting to hear the story of one of the plaintiffs appealing for the right to own a handgun. She led a community effort to rid her neighborhood of drug dealing and was targeted for harassment by the dealers. The courts have already ruled that there is no individual right to protection by the police and that was proved out in her case. She was almost killed when a nearly 7 foot tall dealer busted down her door carrying a gun. He fled when her alarm went off without firing. One of the responding police officers told her to "get a gun." She hopes to use this case to do just that.
My bet is that an individual right will come out of this case but there is plenty of room for argument. Over 70 briefs have been filed and some of the control side make good cases.
For some reason this one has always fascinated me, maybe because of the strange wording of the 2nd amendment. I read the decision of the DC Circuit Court which is a interesting tour through history. Basically, they argued that the right is individual and already existed under English common law at the time of the revolution. There had been a big brew ha-ha when the English government tried to disarm the populace. The circuit court held that the framers were saying that it is that pre-existing individual right that cannot be infringed. The lead in phrase about a well regulated militia being necessary for a free state simply set the context. Well regulated being synonymous with well armed (not organized by the state) and militia being a group of citizens who could quickly assemble to fight whatever enemy (including the state) might come along. Lots of other interesting stuff about the meaning of "arms" how militias could be established and provisioned, etc.
I'm not a gun nut but I do like target shooting. I own a shotgun (legal in DC if kept in a useless condition). But I would like to own a handgun. It was interesting to hear the story of one of the plaintiffs appealing for the right to own a handgun. She led a community effort to rid her neighborhood of drug dealing and was targeted for harassment by the dealers. The courts have already ruled that there is no individual right to protection by the police and that was proved out in her case. She was almost killed when a nearly 7 foot tall dealer busted down her door carrying a gun. He fled when her alarm went off without firing. One of the responding police officers told her to "get a gun." She hopes to use this case to do just that.
My bet is that an individual right will come out of this case but there is plenty of room for argument. Over 70 briefs have been filed and some of the control side make good cases.