In The News
SECOND AMENDMENT GOES BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT
by Tom Gresham
Unless you have been testing tactical flashlights in a cave for the last two months, you know that the Washington, DC, gun ban case is going before the Supreme Court. Here's the "short barrel" version: Washington, DC, banned private ownership of handguns in 1976, and banned owning any functional firearm. All long guns have to be unloaded and either disassembled or be fitted with a trigger lock. In other words, it's illegal to have a gun you could use to defend your life with.
That law was challenged, and the lawsuit was dismissed, then appealed to the federal appeals court on SECOND AMENDMENT grounds, saying that the Second Amendment is an individual right, and that even though some say there can be "reasonable" restriction, a total ban is not reasonable. The court agreed, destroying the D.C. gun ban. Understand, though, that this case was brought with the full intention of getting it to the U.S. Supreme Court. D.C. was reluctant to appeal to SCOTUS (Supreme Court of The United States), but finally did. The court decided to take the case, and it will likely be heard in the spring, with a decision in the summer.
This is huge, as in .600 Nitro Express huge! On Gun Talk radio last Sunday, I asked Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, how he thought the case would go. While some have said they think it'll go our way with a narrow 5/4 split, Alan said he gives it an 80 percent chance of going our way with a 6/3 split, and a 70 percent chance of a huge majority decision with a split of 7 to 2.
The editorials in major newspapers have never been more shrill, nor more incorrect, as they assert that there is no individual right to own guns, that the founding fathers never imagined semi-automatic firearms (Yeah, and they did anticipate the internet, so you can have First Amendment protection for your online papers???), and that this is a terrible case of "judicial activism" (which is the line the Brady Campaign is using).
What's even more interesting, though, are the thoughtful columns and opinion pieces which clearly state that the scholarship on this issue has seen a 9.2 Richter shakeup over the last 20 years, with the majority of law journal articles supporting the "individual rights" view of the Second.
HERE'S THE DEAL. My prediction? SCOTUS will uphold the circuit court, overturning the D.C. gun ban. It will do it in a way which also supports "reasonable" restrictions. What constitutes "reasonable" will be a three-decade battle fought in courtrooms across the country. But, there is a plan. Other cities (and states) have total bans on guns -- handguns, 50-caliber rifles, semi-auto rifles, etc. If the D.C. case (actually known as the Heller case, for one of the people who was named in the original case) goes our way, you'll be seeing similar lawsuits filed in several cities. Once we get favorable decisions there, the plan is to take this to states. At some point, I'm betting, there will be an effort to "incorporate" the Second Amendment -- a term which means that states are prohibited from violating this basic civil right.
If you don't know what the Truth Squad is, let me fill you in. It's a group of volunteers who want to stay updated on gun issues, and who are willing to send letters to newspapers supporting gun rights. If you want to volunteer, click here to sign up for Tom Gresham's Truth Squad.
