According to the Washington Times, the DC Circuit Court struck down the District's 30-year old gun ban on the grounds of the 'prior right' and 'individual right' aspects of the 2nd Amendment (and the US Constitution).
Of course, there is typical liberal outrage about how effective the gun law was at curbing violence. The Washington Times article notes, however, that a) gun murders in DC account for about 80% of the total, against a little less than 70% nationally; and, b) gun crimes in general are rising in DC, while other types of violent crimes are decreasing.
As we say in Paulie World, "An armed society is a polite society."
Here's the money quote:
"To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment’s civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual’s enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia."
Finally, my personal belief is that if the Framers wanted to outlaw any type of arms or munitions, they would have done so. I belief is that the Framers wanted to make sure the people could rise in rebellion against a tyrannical government. The writings of both Jefferson and Justice Storey are pretty clear in this regard. I believe that one should be able to have an M1 Abrams parked in your front yard: if the gubmint can have one, we should be able to have two.
Good online discussion transcript from 2000 here
Anyway, how's that for an early Saturday Morning read?
