That's how it feels to note that liberty wins 5-4. Until the next vote anyway, at which point no one will be able to be heard over the stare decisis cacaphony. Am I supposed to celebrate because liberty, not me or what I want, mind you, but liberty prevailed by the thinnest of margins? Imagine, just one more vote, or perhaps a little more growth by Justice Kennedy and Drudge's headline might have read "Second Amendment Dies" instead.
Note these headlines:
Supreme Court says Americans have right to guns
Weird, huh? I thought it was the US Constitution that said that. The Supreme Court's job is just to make sure that Congress doesn't usurp it.
Americans have right to guns under landmark ruling
Again, it's not the ruling that gives us the right, although I understand the confusion of people who believe in the living, breathing, ever-mutating constitution. But hey, don't get cocky, kids:
Pelosi Says D.C. Should Continue Gun Regulation
Mayors: Gun ruling won't stop prevention efforts
At least Tackleberry finally gets his wish.
DOWNDATE: While Heller has given the citizens of Washington, DC, the right to protect themselves with firearms once again, it has effectively killed The Volokh Conpiracy blog. Just an observation.
Posted by Charles Austin at June 26, 2008 03:49 PMThe 5-4 decision is worrisome, at least in legal and historical terms. If they could take away the Second Amendment what's to keep them from taking away the First? Practically, though, I wonder how much would change if it had gone (or ever does go) the other way. Some folks, like me, would keep their handguns in their homes, whatever the law, and take a chance on being arrested if their use ever became necessary for self-defense. Not that I would worry much living in Texas, though I might have to leave the city limits of, say, Austin, whose liberal majority might, indeed, decide to go D.C.'s and Chicago's route.
Posted by: Dick Stanley at 05:10 PM