Supreme Court: Sorry Chicago, you have gun rights, too…
posted at 10:51 am on June 28, 2010 by MadisonConservative
Suddenly, Daley isn’t the only person in the city who can protect himself.
In its second major ruling on gun rights in three years, the Supreme Court Monday extended the federally protected right to keep and bear arms to all 50 states. The decision will be hailed by gun rights advocates and comes over the opposition of gun control groups, the city of Chicago and four justices.
Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the five justice majority saying “the right to keep and bear arms must be regarded as a substantive guarantee, not a prohibition that could be ignored so long as the States legislated in an evenhanded manner.”
The ruling builds upon the Court’s 2008 decision in D.C. v. Heller that invalidated the handgun ban in the nation’s capital. More importantly, that decision held that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was a right the Founders specifically delegated to individuals. The justices affirmed that decision and extended its reach to the 50 states. Today’s ruling also invalidates Chicago’s handgun ban.
I haven’t been able to find out which of the lefties crossed the border. I’m guessing Kennedy, as he went for DC vs. Heller. The real money quote, however, comes from Ginsberg:
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented in Heller and wondered why the right to bear arms was necessary to extend to the states. “[I]f the notion is that these are principles that any free society would adopt, well, a lot of free societies have rejected the right to keep and bear arms.”
Which free societies would those be, madam? Switzerland? Oh yeah, that’s right, they’re gun nuts. Where else, then, would you argue the people are free? England, where the ban on handguns directly contributed to a skyrocket gun crime rate, not dissimilar to the Chicago situation? Is that freedom? As Roberts cited, Japan has gun control. They also, however, have a police state. In both cases, the criminals continue to get guns outside the law. How can a society be free when the criminals can get firearms to attack, but the citizens cannot get them to defend? It would be mighty interesting to hear Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s criteria for a “free society”. Perhaps we’ll get that shortly after we get future crime statistics from Chicago. Somehow, I don’t think there will be many more of these.
Also: Ironic that this judgment comes just after the NRA finished telling its board to keep quiet about Elena Kagan, who recently referred to them as equivalent to the KKK.
One of the NRA’s chief arguments was that it needed the carve out to be effective in its advocacy of Second Amendment issues. But here’s the problem: these internal Senate emails confirmed by NRA Board Members show that the National Rifle Association’s management team has explicitly and directly told the NRA’s board they are prohibited from testifying about second amendment issues during the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings.
That’s right: the foremost gun rights lobby in the nation is prohibiting its board from testifying in the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings about the second amendment.
The NRA did issue a statement on Friday after the internal Senate email began leaking out informing people of the gag order. The statement noted Kagan’s problematic record on guns, but that’s just smoke and mirrors. Don’t believe them when they say they are working with Senators to investigate her record. If they were really working with Senators, they would have accepted an invitation to testify on the Kagan nomination when they were invited. The gag order on board members is not limited to providing testimony, but it prohibits board members from coming out against Kagan in their individual capacity.
H/T to HA commenter D0WNT0WN.
Blowback
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That sound you hear is the sound of several million relieved-as-all-hell citizens of Chicago dashing to order themselves an S/W 1911.
Hint to Chicago denizens: Get a gun with an accessory rail, and a green laser, Lasermax, Viridian, doesn’t matter. Home defense in a three-pound package. Green is preferable to red. Remember that!
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 11:07 AM
Japan is a poor example of fun rights contributing to the safety of a free society. Yes, they have a police state, but that doesn’t prevent yakuza organizations from flourishing.
gryphon202 on June 28, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Not really. It’s pretty clearly a euphemism for standard leftwing quasi-socialist government. But I have no dispute with you — only with Ginsburg.
jwolf on June 28, 2010 at 11:10 AM
I wish we had fun rights.
MadisonConservative on June 28, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Bersa Thunder 9 Pro/Ultra Compact Pro. Accessory rail built in. 17+1 9MM with extended magazines. Ambidextrous. Decocker. Argentinian beauty.
MadisonConservative on June 28, 2010 at 11:13 AM
Ginsburg was referring to current day Venezuela, right?
The Second Amendment, it insures all the others. Read the Declaration of Independence, before it’s too late.
tarpon on June 28, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Gosh, I’ve never seen that gun before. O.o I’ve been looking for a decent concealed carry, was pondering a Micro Eagle, but this one looks really interesting.
I’m caught between .40 S/W and .45 though. 9mm scares me!
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 11:36 AM
Why? Oh Christ. Start the stopping power crap and I’ll counter with +P and +P+ 9MM rounds(which the Bersa, among others, can shoot all day long) which have just as much power with more rounds in the magazine. I’ll also suggest you go 10MM or .357 SIG if you’re really worried about kilojoules.
Highly recommend the Bersas because they can be had for ~$300 new. Inexpensive, accurate, easy to strip, and I haven’t had one FTF or malfunction in over 1200 rounds fired. These things are amazing.
MadisonConservative on June 28, 2010 at 11:46 AM
+P are gonna wear your weapon out faster, but I suppose if it’s a concealed, the point is having it at that critical moment. >.> The high ammo capacity is also a plus.
10mm is really hard to find where I live, I’m not terribly sure why. .357 would be a good round, but I dunno, I’m more keen on a pistol, rather than a revolver, for concealed carry. .45 has just always been my go-to round.
A $300 Bersa sounds like a really good deal. I just threw down a thousand on a Sig Sauer C3, but it’s a little big for concealed, after having it for a few weeks. Typically I wear cargo pants and engineer boots, so I have a leg strap for carrying, but it’s still a sizable pistol, and the grip safety clicks all the time when I walk.
I’ll pick one up in short order.
I just have to let go of my attachment to 1911s, I guess.
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 12:38 PM
That’s why you only carry with +P, go to the range with normal rounds.
.357 Magnum and .357 SIG are two distinctly different rounds. The latter is only usable in certain SIG pistols, but it even bests magnum on the amount of energy it projects. It’s also semi-auto, giving you the power of a magnum without having to carry around one of those unwieldly Desert Eagles that Hollywood is in love with.
Have you considered a SmartCarry holster? Aside from practically eliminating printing, the pouch is designed such that you can carry an extra magazine or two, or even a second pistol depending on the models you carry.
1911s, sadly, are as American as baseball and apple pie. They’re also horrendously overpriced versus the options brought to us by Italy, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, and others.
MadisonConservative on June 28, 2010 at 12:47 PM
I checked out a pair of Desert Eagles at my local Scheels. I’m about 6′ and fancy my hands to be relatively large, but I found those things clunky in the utmost. Prohibitively expensive, too, both of them were around fifteen hundred dollars.
You’re probably right about the 1911s, but alas, I can’t seem to help myself. >.< My custom from Fusion arrived last Friday, and it occupies the lion's share of my heart at the moment.
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 12:54 PM
Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t even hold one of those without it being awkward. They’re like the S&W 500 and the 600 Nitro Express. Made to show innovation and little else.
I can understand the attachment to .45, believe me. It’s just that with the progression of submachine guns and other pistols, 9MM has the greater range of utility, not to mention being a much less expensive round.
MadisonConservative on June 28, 2010 at 1:06 PM
Thanks for that link to the site about Switzerland, I had no idea and gained some knowledge. Fascinating stuff.
Heralder on June 28, 2010 at 1:16 PM
Desert Eagles are rather picky about maintenance too since they are gas operated instead of simple blowback operated like most semi-auto’s.
They are also heavier than hell and are guaranteed to pull your pants down in short order unless you have a pair of suspenders.
Consider a Springfield XD.. available in both 9mm and .40 S&W and there is now an XDm available in 45ACP. Very nice gun.
Rorschach on June 28, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Whoa, hold on there, pardner, I’ve got a pair of those .500s, and I’ll tell you now, they’re a lot easier to hold than the Eagles! Huge revolver is way easier to grip than a huge mag-fed pistol!
o.0 Though, I will admit, you have to fight ‘em when shooting. I picked up a 440 grain load for them, and on the fifth round, the skin on my trigger finger tore open about an inch long. That was a hoot.
(I don’t think I’ll try the 700grain loads that are available.)
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 1:34 PM
Since we’re yapping about ridiculously oversized firearms and Magnum Research, anyone want to try out their BFR 45-70 and give me a report on it? >.>
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 1:38 PM
This is just step one. Hopefully next we’ll be discussing other such topics as:
1)Life – no abortions
2)Liberty – less regulation
3)Pursuit of Happiness, or as Gryphon202 put it, Fun Rights
4)Freedom of the Press, ie, not letting BarryO have his finger on the “internet reset button”
5)discreet carry (concealed seems to imply hiding something vs discretion being the better part of valor) without licensing nationwide
6)Term Limits for all elected positions, not just President
Or is it just me?
Robert17 on June 28, 2010 at 3:21 PM
With a road map like that, you’ve got my vote. o.0
KinleyArdal on June 28, 2010 at 3:24 PM
CK MacLeod to curse us all in 3,2,1,…….
rightwingyahooo on June 28, 2010 at 7:51 PM
Sam Gerard: Keep it in your suit unless I tell you to take it out. Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol.
U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones)
“U.S. Marshals” (1998)
shorebird on June 28, 2010 at 9:42 PM
some folks have strange, strange ideas of “beauty”
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder…. so maybe someone is a bit “decocker” eyed.
audiculous on June 29, 2010 at 9:35 PM
Congratulations on selective editing to make your point. Did you even know what a decocker was before you googled it in response to the question I’m asking you now?
Guns are things of beauty like any other machine.
MadisonConservative on June 29, 2010 at 9:45 PM
MadisonConservative
small joke too much for you?
jeepres MadCon, that one from me was near to friendly kidding.
but, what the heck, there’s another thing that they say…… I’ll selectively edit it for you.
” …. .. if they can’t take a joke!”
but, next time I comment on one of your posts, I’ll be more serious and more substantive.
audiculous on June 29, 2010 at 9:53 PM
Well, what can I say? You don’t exactly have a history of being friendly, or even civil, when it comes to me. If I took your attitude wrongly, I apologize. If it is, and continues to be friendly, I’ll adjust my responses accordingly.
MadisonConservative on June 29, 2010 at 10:04 PM
MadisonConservative
it’s fair of you to offer the apology.
let’s do our fighting when we have something to fight about
and laugh when we can.
audiculous on June 29, 2010 at 10:10 PM
Since we’re celebrating, check out the date of the last post by this Green Room writer.
Win.
OhioCoastie on June 30, 2010 at 9:42 AM
He appears to have resigned himself to staying on zombiecontentions and using “HA commenters” as a derogatory label. Guaranteed he’ll be back, though. He craves the attention.
MadisonConservative on June 30, 2010 at 10:42 AM
The zombie jamboree’s looking more and more like a circlejerk lately. Boy, is he ever a navelgazer. Songs in the Key of Me by CK Macleod.
Didja know we’re now “rascals?” Mayhap I should send a telegram to good old T. Coddington Van Voorhees VII requesting a suitably droll retaliatory appellation with which to volley CK’s serve.
This is rich:
Imagine the panty-bunching dismay he feels at finding HotAir.com veritably infested with actual conservatives (no scare quotes here). We criticize him for his intellectually- and morally-flabby reasoning, not for being himself. His definition of conservatism overlapped the well-accepted definition less and less with every post. I could just as easily complain about the lack of “a pacifism with which I could be comfortable” because “True Pacifists” object to my habit of punching random people on the sidewalk, but nobody would take me seriously either. Maybe I just missed it when Mr. Undead Genius whipped out his Get-Out-Of-Logic-Free card.
CK will keep headbutting that brick wall of rational thought until he comes to the conclusion that it assaulted him … at which point he’ll formally join the ranks of Sullivan, Frum, Johnson, and friends.
OhioCoastie on June 30, 2010 at 8:55 PM
Ohio Coastie first began that imagining while gazing at mom.
audiculous on June 30, 2010 at 9:05 PM
Out on parole, are we?
OhioCoastie on June 30, 2010 at 11:16 PM
no, she’s still serving. still slipping on the same worn prison orange ones too, and since she probably can’t write too well, or doesn’t bother with you, I’ll report that your mom still gets them all in a bunch……
audiculous on June 30, 2010 at 11:25 PM