U.S. Supreme Court Embraces the Second Amendment

Thursday, 26 June 2008

In America, the rights of the individual prevail today over the sometimes questionable prerogative of state and government.

The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutional right of an American to have a gun and, especially, for the purpose of self-defense in one’s home. This individual right has been clearly acknowledged independent of the necessities of military or militia service, duty and training. The ruling comes out of the Court’s review of District of Columbia v. Heller. Additionally: Washington, D.C.’s many year ban on handguns and a mandatory requirement for gun locks was deemed unconstitutional.

District of Columbia v. Heller is the most important Second Amendment case in American history. Today’s decision is a historical decision that will guide the way courts and States consider questions about the American right of responsible citizens to own a gun for a long time to come. The American right of an individual for self defense is more clearly defined as a Constitutional right.

This historical decision represents the deeply considered and powerful reasoning of Justice Antonin Scalia who led the majority opinion. According to Georgetown University Law Professor Randy Barnett, Justice Scalia’s opinion “is the clearest, most careful interpretation of the meaning of the Constitution ever to be adopted by a majority of the Supreme Court.”

This opinion, writes Barnett in The Wall Street Journal, “is the finest example of what is now called original public meaning jurisprudence ever adopted by the Supreme Court.”

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She Saw History in the Making: Number sixty four

District of Columbia v. Heller

A friend shared a story with me that made me deeply feel the significance and importance of the oral arguments that I reviewed regarding District of Columbia v. Heller. I had to share it with you. Fortunate for us… the kind author, Victoria Lloyd, gave me permission. I’ll admit this: I was so excited about this personal story that I waited eight hours to find out who the author was and how to get in touch.

Below, a little patriotic clip, in case, you can’t continue without video.

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Or, background music from Janis Joplin and Woodstock (Try)… for your reading:

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Number Sixty Four
by Victoria F. Lloyd

It was six o’clock in the evening on the Seventeenth of March when I drove by the United States Supreme Court to scout the line of people that had gathered on the sidewalk. They were strewn about in an unkempt line starting at the base of the marble steps of the court. I could see several people dining on Armand’s pizza and a delivery man with bags of Chinese food being paid by a young man bundled in a sweatshirt, jeans, and a North Face jacket. It was clear that these people were in for the long haul.

United States Supreme Court reviews Dee Cee’s ban on handguns

Reaffirming the Second Amendment does not mean we should not discuss the problems of violence in our culture or the tragedies and horrors that we have observed in our schools, streets and low income neighborhoods. As Americans, we are smart enough, creative enough and passionate enough to find compelling solutions that do not infringe upon our obligations and rights as Americans… and as prominent an important members of an international community.

Below, a trailer for a documentary on the Second Amendment:

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