Latest gun ruling a case of conservative judicial activism

Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of ruling that the Second Amendment guarantee of the right to bear arms was an individual right rather than a right tied to a “well-regulated militia.” Today, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, it ruled 5-4 that state and local governments are as bound by that interpretation as the federal government, a step that greatly restricts their ability to legislate in that arena.

Symbolically, the ruling is a big victory for the gun lobby. But its practical effect is another matter. A decade or two ago, when hot political battles were still being fought over gun control, rulings such as these would have had significant impact. But the truth is that the single-minded passion of gun-rights advocates long routed their opponents in the political arena, making gun-control arguments in the political arena all but moot.

In that sense, the Supreme Court is merely following the election returns, as Mr. Dooley long ago noted.

But it will be interesting to see how the issue plays out. In Heller, the court wrote repeatedly of the constitutional right to self-defense and singled out handguns as “the most preferred firearm in the nation to ‘keep’ and use for protection of one’s home and family.” Heller also noted that the right to bear arms is NOT “a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

In addition, Heller expressly did not apply to “laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

As Justice Stephen Breyer notes in his dissent, the rulings in Heller and McDonald strip power from state and local governments and place it in the hands not just of the federal government, but of the federal courts. In its centralization of power, its rejection of precedent and and its investment of legislative power in the courts, the court has taken a decidedly activist role.

In fact, Breyer notes, it requires judges, not legislatures, to now address a variety of questions regarding the costs and benefits of various firearms restrictions:

“Does the right to possess weapons for self-defense extend outside the home? To the car? To work? What sort of guns are necessary for self-defense? Handguns? Rifles? Semiautomatic weapons? When is a gun semi-automatic? Where are different kinds of weapons likely needed? Does time of day matter? Does the presence of a child in the house matter? Does the presence of a convicted felon in the house matter? Do police need special rules permitting patdowns designed to find guns? When do registration requirements become severe to the point that they amount to an unconstitutional ban? Who can possess guns and of what kind? Aliens? Prior drug offenders? Prior alcohol abusers? How would the right (to self-defense) interact with a state or local government’s ability to take special measures during, say, national security emergencies?”

“Legislators,” Breyer notes, “are able to ‘amass the stuff of actual experience and cull conclusions from it.’ United States v. Gainey, 380 U. S. 63, 67 (1965). They are far better suited than judges to uncover facts and to understand their relevance. And legislators, unlike Article III judges, can be held democratically responsible for their empirically based and value-laden conclusions.”

The Supreme Court — the ostensibly conservative, anti-activist, pro-states’ rights Roberts court — has taken those decisions out of the hands of legislatures and city councils and placed them in the hands of its colleagues in the federal judiciary.

619 comments Add your comment

TW

June 28th, 2010
11:50 am

There’s a good chance this Court might give us our slaves back.

Bill

June 28th, 2010
11:51 am

The right for an individual has been clearly stated by our Founding Fathers. Any law-abiding citizen should be able to obtain and use a firearm for personal protection. I do not see how the second amendment can be interpreted otherwise. Use your same argument against the 1st amendment and see how that sits with yourself.

md

June 28th, 2010
11:52 am

“The Supreme Court — the ostensibly conservative, anti-activist, pro-states’ rights Roberts court — has taken those decisions out of the hands of legislatures and city councils and placed them in the hands of its colleagues in the federal judiciary.”

Bull. The court said the States may legislate as long as they follow the constitution – which by definition gives the right to bear arms.

I for one applaud the decision that keeps only the criminals from possessing.

Police respond to crime, very rarely prevent it.

Marko

June 28th, 2010
11:55 am

Poor Jay.
First Byrd just had a “dalliance” with the KKK.
And now, the court reaffirming a right spelled forth in the constitution is “activism”.
Please try again Jay. Even for you this is weak.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
11:56 am

“I do not see how the second amendment can be interpreted otherwise”

I agree. I have never seen the validity of the argument that the right to bear arms ONLY applies as it relates to a militia. Since a “militia” in that context is a citizen army, and at the time it was written the militias relied on the citizens to provide their own weapons, it has always read to me as an individual right to own a gun.

But, that does not mean ANY gun, under ANY circumstances. There’s also no doubt that there are a lot of “weapons” out there that go beyond what is needed for self-protection, or even for militia purposes…especially in today’s world where citizens are not expected to provide their own militia weapons.

TW

June 28th, 2010
11:57 am

For every ONE time someone claims to have used a firearm to successfully defend their person, there are SEVENTEEN accidental deaths resulting from firearms – many of which involve children finding them in the closet of the parent retard who put it there unsecured.

With the N* word no longer socially acceptable, the right takes every measure to ensure that the streets of our inner-cities remain saturated with fire-power.

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
11:59 am

Swami Dave

June 28th, 2010
12:00 pm

Sorry Jay. Upholding the Constitution and the rights that it affords individuals is not “activism”.

Good try though. I understand the pain that it must be causing so many liberals that they are finding it more and more difficult to advance through the Judiciary an agenda that they could never gain legislatively.

-SD

RB from Gwinnett

June 28th, 2010
12:02 pm

“The Supreme Court — the ostensibly conservative, anti-activist, pro-states’ rights Roberts court — has taken those decisions out of the hands of legislatures and city councils and placed them in the hands of its colleagues in the federal judiciary.”

Obvious to any thinking man, Jay, they had to act because liberally ruled cities such as DC and Chicago had taken it upon themselves to enact laws that are clearly in violation of the constitution. And the stupid rules required to get a concealed carry permit or a permit to buy a handgun ARE a form of a ban. You have to take a day off work and go hang out with some of our finest hard working government employees in multiple locations. It’s quite clear the “multiple locations” part of that is intended to make it difficult to complete the process.

Will you liberals ever figure out it’s not the law abiding gun owners you need to worry about and criminals aren’t going to follow any of your well meaning rules? Yes, I get the occasional nut case going off with a gun, but you and the rest of us know that is NOT the bulk of the problem.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
12:02 pm

“Upholding the Constitution and the rights that it affords individuals is not “activism”. ”

I don’t know…maybe Jay will come back and clarify his uses of that word, but *I* read it as sarcasm. As in: when the court makes a decision you don’t like, it’s “activism” but when they make a decision you DO like it “following the constitution”

md

June 28th, 2010
12:02 pm

“For every ONE time someone claims to have used a firearm to successfully defend their person, there are SEVENTEEN accidental deaths resulting from firearms – many of which involve children finding them in the closet of the parent retard who put it there unsecured.”

And can you provide the stats for those seventeen in regards to legal vs illegal possession? How many will occur regardless of gun laws?? Stupid people do stupid things – that is a given.

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
12:06 pm

The Supreme Court — [...] ostensibly conservative, anti-activist, pro-states’ rights

ha ha. Jay make a funny.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
12:07 pm

5-4 decision–what was the beakdown of “fer” and “agin?”

Southern Comfort

June 28th, 2010
12:08 pm

Dang it, Jay!! I made it thru the first thread without losing my cool. I don’t think I can make it thru two as I know there will be some ludicrous (not to be confused with Ludacris) stuff said here. I’m gone to go play Madden football. I think that would be more productive than sitting through this one.

See y’all later.

mike

June 28th, 2010
12:08 pm

OK, can we all agree that partisans of both sides will reflexively bellow “judicial activism” when a ruling does not go their way, regardless of the relevance of the term to the ruling in question?

It reminds me of that line from A Fish Called Wanda:

“Monkeys don’t read Nietzsche? Yes they do, Otto, they just don’t understand it. …”

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
12:10 pm

Well you could beat your chest like Tarzan, but why look or act like a fool.

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
12:11 pm

As in: when the court makes a decision you don’t like, it’s “activism” but when they make a decision you DO like it “following the constitution”

see also: “Legislating from the bench.”

electrician

June 28th, 2010
12:11 pm

TW…i’m having a hard time connecting that last paragraph with the “right”,the number of firearms in the inner cities,that would be due to a number of things,icluding those law abiding inner city dwellers who choose to be armed, ahd what in the world does that have to do with the N* word?

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
12:11 pm

what was the beakdown of “fer” and “agin?”

You really have to ask?

Robyn

June 28th, 2010
12:13 pm

One just knew the leftist would have fits over the latest 2nd amendment ruling by SCOTUS. They think only freedom of the press is an individual right. Wrong again. They also think that any ruling against them is always judicial activism. What a bunch of losers.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
12:13 pm

“see also: “Legislating from the bench.” ”

Yep…and to date I have never seen anyone who uses either of those terms ever come up with a definition for them.

Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)

June 28th, 2010
12:13 pm

Did they say anything about my right to carry the anti-tank weapon and the two machine guns I use for hunting and self-defense? If I can carry those into a restaurant or a bar, I’ll be looked on as the biggest, baddest mutha in the whole state. I’ll outgun any cops they can put up against me.

Anyhow, this just goes to show how slick Alito and Roberts and Scalia were in not answering the librul Democrats questions straight up during their hearings. We got a good solid Conservative SC now and I can’t hardly wait till they strike down all this Equal Rights junk. And that’s why we got to hold Tea Party rallys against this Kagan woman the Kenyan wants to put on the court.

See what happens when you get rid of Activists and put Strict Constructionists on the courts?

Have a good p.m. everybody. And don’t you dare get in my way from now on.

Peadawg

June 28th, 2010
12:13 pm

“With the N* word no longer socially acceptable”

LOL! You must not watch BET. It’s plenty acceptable between the N’s themselves.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
12:15 pm

decibles

Yes, I do…

andygrd

June 28th, 2010
12:16 pm

As a concealed carry permit holder, it was the right decisions. For 99% of the honest and legal population, laws will be followed. For the 1% nut jobs, no matter what law is enacted, there will individuals that break the law. What we need to do, is prosecute the offenders to the fullest extent of the law.
I am a retired military officer, 60 years of age, and can still place a tight patter at 21 feet. I am also a member of the NRA, and I joined just about a year ago. I very seldom carry a gun, mostly when my wife and I travel. I hope that I will never, ever have to use my gun for self defense. I hope that I can always protect my family by other means. If it is a material item, take it, I can replace it. If you threaten my life, or that of a member of my family, I will go toe to toe with you. You will never know I have it, and in states when you can open carry, you still will never see it, I don’t believe in that.
In Chicago recently, if I am not mistaken, from 6:00 pm on a Friday to 6:00 am on a Monday, there were over 40 shootings, reported on ABC and others. I don’t think those involved were law abiding citizens. I think we need tougher laws governing the purchase of handguns. I think better investigations are required to protect the innocents.
After 20 years in the military, I never witnessed a gun just going off and shooting someone. I have seen human errors that caused guns to discharge. If you are going to own a gun, attend training and then practice, practice and practice.

Anny Okee

June 28th, 2010
12:17 pm

Who needs an escort to the clinic Saturday morning? Little Smiffy and I are ready to protect you from the oppressors of your rights.

RB from Gwinnett

June 28th, 2010
12:17 pm

TW, how many accidental drowning deaths are there in swimming pools and lakes every year? Should we ban those too? Accidents happen. No amount of warning labels on ladders will keep idiots from falling off them. No amount of “the coffee is HOT” labels will keep idiots from burning themselves.

And is there a mental block liberals have with the fact criminals don’t follow gun laws anyway? Want evidence?? See DC and Chicago crime stats.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
12:17 pm

Hell, bring back the “Old West” mentality. Everybody wears sidearms and if someone disses you, gun ‘em down. We’d become a nation of good manners, I betcha.

Oh, and Peadawg,
From downstairs. We’ve argued about this a hundred times, but Afghanistan was the “war” that needed fighting to bring OBL to heel. President Bush had other “Priorities (political gain)” and didn’t finish the job. President Obama inherited it and tried, is trying to fix the unfixable. This is why I say, if he escalates or stays much longer, then he is doing so at his own political peril and he won’t be forgiven. It’s way past time to bring our people home.

Oh the horror

June 28th, 2010
12:17 pm

“Today, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, it ruled 5-4 that state and local governments are as bound by that interpretation as the federal government, a step that greatly restricts their ability to legislate in that arena.”

Oh the horror! The states are prohibited from legislating away the constitutional rights of citizens. What is this great nation coming to?

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
12:19 pm

Yes, I do…

5 to 4, with the usual suspects voting against–Stevens, Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Breyer. We got us a conservative Supreme Court, jnix, so don’t count on getting any rulings in your favor any time soon.

NowReally

June 28th, 2010
12:22 pm

I thought conservatives were for local and states rights. Well if you can’t beat them, join them. AK 47 anyone? :)

Plain Jane

June 28th, 2010
12:22 pm

Q. Why not amend the constitution to ban private gun ownership?
A. The vast majority of voters know better than stateist totalitarians like you. Ask yourself if I hate the American way so much why hav’nt I moved to France?

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
12:23 pm

Yes, I do…

Well, whenever I see the words “5-4″ affiliated with something that gladdens the hearts of the local righties, I more or less assume it’s

Balls and Strikes
Long Dong
Fat Tony
Stripsearch Sammy
&
At Least I’m not Bork

in the “5″ column.

mrs. w.

June 28th, 2010
12:23 pm

Glock and 357. They are mine and you can’t have them.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
12:23 pm

TWs post is stupid, devoid of any reasoning and more excuse making. In other words about as useful as *POOT*.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
12:24 pm

Disgusted..
And what makes you think I disagree with this decision?

Joe Frank

June 28th, 2010
12:25 pm

But I thought you supported judicial activism? What am I to think? What am I to believe?

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
12:26 pm

“Everybody wears sidearms and if someone disses you, gun ‘em down.”

Isnt that being tried in S Dekalb, S Fulton and Atlanta? Well they dont wear them outside their clothing but…

Cornell Law Student

June 28th, 2010
12:27 pm

It’s clear that you’re not a lawyer, Bookman. I love how you quoted Breyer on expanding the power of the courts. It highlights the absurdity in your critism of this decision. Stevens and Breyer have trumpeted due process for ages and now balk when it encompasses a right they don’t like? The decision of the Court followed precedent that the liberal justices have supported for years. It’s honestly shocking that they dissented at all. Maybe Thomas is onto something about throwing out substantive due process altogether.

I guess that’s what journalists like to do, though–write ignorantly about things they don’t understand.

Granny Godzilla

June 28th, 2010
12:33 pm

I’d take the SCOTUS ruling more seriously if they practiced what they preached.

Those conservative activist Judges won’t let a gun be carried into their place of business now will they?

md

June 28th, 2010
12:34 pm

“I thought conservatives were for local and states rights.”

Can you show us where the States ever had the “right” to alter the constitution??

booger

June 28th, 2010
12:35 pm

Judicial activism is interpreting the constitution differently than it is written, and intended by our founders. Since this was written, and has been consistently interpreted in much the same way, this is a court doing their job.

Now if Bookman defines judicial activism as ruling in a fashion with witch he disagrees, i supposed his contention is correct.

TGT

June 28th, 2010
12:36 pm

The Court has taken a decidedly CONSTITUTIONAL view of the right to keep and bear arms. A view that most of the country agrees with. It is only the most radically liberal areas of the country (i.e. D.C., Chicago) that chose to ignore the Constitution and rob its citizens of the chance to defend themselves, and which they have only in recent years decided to take such radical action. It’s amazing that liberals can find the right to kill a child in the womb in the U.S. Constitution, but not the right to keep and/or bear arms, a right so significant that it is expressly stated.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:36 pm

And when you have your degree and passed the Bar exam and have a few years under your belt in Constitutional law, Cornell Law Student, hopefully you’ll be able to understand distinctions.

For a good example of that, you may want to read here:

http://libertymaven.com/2010/06/28/supreme-court-says-2nd-amendment-applies-to-the-states-in-a-5-4-decision/10097/

Here are the results according to the SCOTUS blog:

* Alito announces McDonald v. Chicago: reversed and remanded
* Gun rights prevail
* The opinion concludes that the 14th Amendment does incorporate the Second Amendment right recognized in Heller to keep and bear arms in self defense
* Stevens dissents for himself. Breyer dissents, joined by Ginsburg and Sotomayor.
* The majority seems divided, presumably on the precise standard
* The majority Justices do not support all parts of the Alito opinion, but all five agree that the 2d Amendment applies to state and local government.
* Alito, in the part of the opinion joined by three Justices, concludes that the 2d Amendment is incorporated through the Due Process Clause.
* Thomas thinks the Amendment is incorporated, but not under Due Process. He appears to base incorporation on Privileges or Immunities.
* The difference between the majority and Justice Thomas doesn’t affect the fact that the Second Amendment now applies to state and local regulation.
* Full Opinion is here.
* It should be noted that, in the guns case, the Court says explicitly in Alito’s opinion that it would not reconsider the Slaughterhouse cases, which almost completely deprive the Privileges or Immunities Clause of any constitutional meaning.
* The opinion leaves the fate of the Chicago gun ordinance in the hands of the 7th Circuit on remand.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:37 pm

Hi Granny Godzilla!

The decision specifically addressed that not all weapons are covered and not all locations are open.

N-GA

June 28th, 2010
12:37 pm

If states and/or municipalities cannot legislate what type of guns can be owned by their citizens, then they should legislate mandatory registration of all firearms and make possession of an unregistered weapon a felony punishable by: 1) mandatory jail time and 2) loss of the right to own a weapon.

md

June 28th, 2010
12:37 pm

The court obviously agreed with Shatner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0D78JtxmqI

I love that one……………..

chainshaw

June 28th, 2010
12:38 pm

Re-affirming our Constitutional rights is not activism. If they had re-affirmed our right to free speech, you wouldn’t have said a word.

Wipe your chin off, Jay. The Democratic Party left a little something on it.

Shawny

June 28th, 2010
12:38 pm

Good decision.

Supporting the Chicago’s ability to take away possession is more ‘activist’ than denying the city the ability to legislate that right away.

Legislate away that right, and then only criminals have them. Way to go SCOTUS (except the 4 libs).

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:39 pm

What I’m interested in in the aftermath of this decision is how it affects NRA contributions and what tactics they’ll use to frighten people into donating more. There’ll likely be more cases dealing with the issues not addressed, so those coffers may not show much of a reduction. Then again, neither will LaPierre’s salary or expense account or the other top NRA officials -

TGT

June 28th, 2010
12:40 pm

Enter your comments here

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:40 pm

Good suggestion, N-GA.

A little on the light side as far as penalties go, but a good suggestion nonetheless -

TGT

June 28th, 2010
12:40 pm

joe matarotz

June 28th, 2010
12:42 pm

Imagine the nerve of the Supreme Court in upholding the Constitution! What were they thinking?
They sure aren’t like the left-wing liberal administration that Jay adores. Obama the Magnificent just ignores the Constitution, like it never existed. On the other hand, it sure didn’t look like he had much success in convincing the rest of the G-20 attendees that they need to spend their way out of the recession. Obama grasp of the world economy makes Bush look like a genius. (Sorry, Jay, someone has to tell the truth.)

Jay

June 28th, 2010
12:42 pm

No Booger, the term for a ruling that misinterprets the Constitution is “wrong.”

“Judicial activism” involves a subset of “wrong;” i.e., the claim that judges are usurping decisions that are better made in the legislative branch, substituting their judgment for the judgment of those elected by the people.

Or at least, that’s the definition when liberals do it.

jconservative

June 28th, 2010
12:42 pm

Expected decision based on what the Court did in the Heller decision. And the strong resemblance to the words of Heller were expected. Those lovers of the 14th Amendment’s “Due Process Clause” just received another vase of roses.

You 10th Amendment lovers just took another hit.

But we 2nd Amendment lovers need to look closely at Justice Alito’s words just as we looked closely at Justice Scalia’s words in Heller.
Alito’s words: “In Heller, we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a handgun in the home for the purpose of self-defense….We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt on such longstanding regulatory measures as ‘prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,’ laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings,’… We repeat those assurances here. Despite municipal respondents’ doomsday proclamations, incorporation does not imperil every law regulating firearms.”

Note the words “…the Second Amendment protects the right to possess a handgun in the home for the purpose of self-defense.” Whether I can carry a .38 under my armpit to a UGA football game is still open to debate.

But the bottom line is that after 219 years the Court has ruled that the 2nd Amendment applies to the States. And although expected, it is still great news.

But Goodman is correct on one point; the Federal judiciary is a gonna be real busy for a few years.

Cornell Law Student

June 28th, 2010
12:45 pm

Gee, thanks for the summary Paul.

The dissents were based on ideology, not the law. I am able to make fine distinctions. The dinstinction Stevens offers is absurd. Read Scalia’s amusing concurrence.

As for your experience advice, the first thing you learn in law school is how Con Law is like sausage making. Both sides have ignored the law for political purposes. I’m not saying the conservative justices are always right. What I’m saying is that the author of this article has it completely wrong as to which justices were following politics in this decision.

NowReally

June 28th, 2010
12:46 pm

md

June 28th, 2010
12:34 pm

Well I would assume you are okay with a criminal keeping his “Right” to bear arms, since the Constitution doesn’t have any exceptions to it. :)

The constitution doesn’t say you have the “right” to vote; unless you are an ex felon; but many states have decided to make it part of their mantra.

TM

June 28th, 2010
12:47 pm

For some history of why we need this individual right read the opinion pages 22 to 26 when certain southern states tried to take all weapons away form blacks after the civil war.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
12:47 pm

Granny hates America.

Bubba

June 28th, 2010
12:48 pm

I knew somebody would invoke a “return to the Wild West days” analogy. Well, hopefully we will return to those days. The most infamous shootout of the era, the “Gunfight at the OK Corral,” killed a total of three people. In fact, history shows that despite the abundance of guns and gunfighters, gun deaths were relatively rare in the Old West.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
12:48 pm

“The Supreme Court — the ostensibly conservative, anti-activist, pro-states’ rights Roberts court — has taken those decisions out of the hands of legislatures and city councils and placed them in the hands of its colleagues in the federal judiciary.”

……………and that’s why we have the Bill of Rights (especially the 2nd Amendment as it protects all others) when the courts, the President, the Congress, State Legislatures or city governments/councils try to violate them.

This is a win FOR THE PEOPLE ……….. “the RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms” !

Ooo Rah !!!

jt

June 28th, 2010
12:49 pm

I’ve never really EVER cared what those guys said.

Andre

June 28th, 2010
12:49 pm

The supreme courts decision on gunrights today wasnt judicial activism it was simply athe only reading that the constitution allows Militias are not organized militarys but the citizens themselves.
The only reason You on the left want to take gun rights away is so that you can reenslave everyone. Yoiu on the left have not once been on the right side of any issue during slavery you were pro slavery and then after the civil war you backed segregation and discrimination It was president wilson for example that segregated the military for example and he was a leftist progressive. also it was the criminals that were running the ny police department in the early 20th century that passed the sullivan act requiring concealed weapons permits that only they could afford. on roe v wade you turned women into murderers even though real women like Susan B Anthony knew that someonone who has one is damned to hell and the person who forces her to it is thrice damned.

Jay

June 28th, 2010
12:50 pm

Cornell, I don’t disagree with your point about Breyer and due process.

Conversely, the conservative majority here does the same thing regarding judicial restraint, states’ rights, respect for precedent, etc., They too ditch principles in order to get where they want to be.

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
12:50 pm

Disgusted: 5 to 4, with the usual suspects voting against–Stevens, Ginsberg, Sotomayor, Breyer. We got us a conservative Supreme Court, jnix, so don’t count on getting any rulings in your favor any time soon.

I’m waiting patiently for Clarice Thomas to die of shame and humiliation, (for being white only on the inside) — THEN by golly we’d have an opening!!

mm

June 28th, 2010
12:51 pm

“I for one applaud the decision that keeps only the criminals from possessing.”

And exactly how is that being accomplished?

How many of the thugs that shot 29 people in Chicago over the weekend had legally obtained guns?

Badgers

June 28th, 2010
12:52 pm

If what this looney lefty writes is true, and courts cannot rule against local or state laws that disagree with a federal law or right.

Then there is no reason to complain about Arizona having a law about illegals eh? Its a local or state law, and the feds have a law but don’t enforce it.

In fact since states rights trump federal law or rights, then the Civil War was illegal and slavery should be legal! Oh wait….that cant be.

AMIRITE? YES!

Tip to the writer, find another job.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:52 pm

Cornell

Good to hear. I think it’s a bit extreme to say dissents were based on ideology, not law. Ideology, as I understand it in this context, is holding onto views despite new evidence. The fact dissenting opinions cite case law does not make it ideological, just a different opinion. Which is what these decisions are – opinions.

I don’t get worked up much over cries of ‘this side or that side’ when it comes to court cases. I think one of Jay’s points in this is how conservatives align with the idea of states’ rights and having all powers not specifically given to the feds, etc…. yet when a case comes that lets them keep their handguns in their homes but makes the states follow the feds in this case, they pretty much avoid it in their responses.

mm

June 28th, 2010
12:52 pm

“The only reason You on the left want to take gun rights away is so that you can reenslave everyone.”

IGNORANT POST OF THE DAY!!

Robert Byrd (Democrat) KKK member since 1944

June 28th, 2010
12:53 pm

“I’m waiting patiently for Clarice Thomas to die of shame and humiliation”

Who is Clarice Thomas?

John Hardin

June 28th, 2010
12:53 pm

“Judicial Activism” is the court granting powers or responsibilities to the government that are not granted by the Constitution. It is _not_ the court saying “the Constitution means what it says”. It is _not_ the court saying “the Constitution does not grant the government that power, or assign it that responsibility.”

It’s not a matter of whether or not a law is wise or evenhanded or balances costs and benefits properly, it’s whether or not the legislature has been granted the power to pass any laws on that topic in the first place. When it comes to bearing arms, the Second Amendment is clear.

What’s tragic is that the decision was 5:4 rather than unanimous.

Dirty Harry

June 28th, 2010
12:53 pm

“I know what your thinking, did he fire 5 or 6 shots? Well in all the excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being as this is a 44 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and could blow your head clean off ya gotta ask yourself something. Do I feel lucky?

Well…do ya PUNK?!!”

Jay

June 28th, 2010
12:54 pm

And Bubba, part of the cause of the Gunfight at the OK Corral was the effort of law enforcement to uphold Tombstone’s gun-control law.

You know, the kind of law that is unAmerican?

Paul

June 28th, 2010
12:55 pm

Off topic

Kagan hearings live on NPR here

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128162164

I’m kinda interested in hearing how she justified violating the law while at Harvard re: the recruiters issue -

md

June 28th, 2010
12:56 pm

“Well I would assume you are okay with a criminal keeping his “Right” to bear arms, since the Constitution doesn’t have any exceptions to it.”

Since criminals follow their own law, they will assign their own rights regardless of what any court says, so their right to bear arms will never be taken away.

mm

June 28th, 2010
12:56 pm

Funny how the wingnuts defend the constitution when they aren’t trashing it.

Like the government spying on us.

Or taking away citizenship from children born in this country.

Bubba

June 28th, 2010
12:57 pm

I personally don’t think gun control laws are un-American. I think total bans unconstitutional. But after all, the Second Amendment never mentions guns. It says arms. And carried to its extreme, it could mean we all have a right to own a nuclear bomb.

pat

June 28th, 2010
12:57 pm

2nd ammendment reads:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

How is this unclear?
I like how folks relate this ruling to bringing back slavery and racism. Is it not you who is engaging in racsim?

So I guess we can count on you liberals torching cars and rioting violently? Isn’t that the liberal way every time something you don’t like happens?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/27/g-20-protests-police-arrests_n_627051.html

md

June 28th, 2010
12:59 pm

“I for one applaud the decision that keeps only the criminals from possessing.”

And exactly how is that being accomplished?

How many of the thugs that shot 29 people in Chicago over the weekend had legally obtained guns?”

Huh??

Gun control, such as in Chicago and DC, allows only the criminals possession – it only removes the right from law abiding citizens of which those thugs you reference were not.

Doc Holliday

June 28th, 2010
1:00 pm

“I have two guns. One for each of ya”.

Doc Holliday

June 28th, 2010
1:01 pm

“I have not yet begun to defile myself. It’s true, you are a good woman. Then again, you may be the antichrist”.

Harold A. Maio

June 28th, 2010
1:01 pm

felons and “the” mentally ill
I have no problem finding a legal definition of “felons,” could you please supply me one for “the” mentally ill?

It rings familiarly. I recall it from history as “the” Blacks, and “the” Jews. Are we really still there?

I object to the above misrepresentation. And to journalism cooperating with it.

Gun laws state, the language may vary by state:
people, declared by a court a danger to themselves or others because of a mental illness, may not legally purchase firearms.
It is a small and discrete group.

Harold A. Maio, retired Mental Health Editor

Activist?

June 28th, 2010
1:01 pm

So, Mr. Bookman, you have adequately demonstrated you have no idea what judicial activism is. Congratulations.

P.S., incorporating an enumerated right through the 14th Amendment is “activist” in your mind. What say you of non-enumerated rights (abortion, unenumerated “privacy,” etc.)? Do you believe Roe and its progeny to be activist? Griswold? Where does “activist” end in your book? What is the dividing line? Or are you trying to draw a parallel between Roe and Heller/McDonald which is easily severed by the distinction I make between enumerated/unenumerated rights?

Paul

June 28th, 2010
1:03 pm

Matti

June 28th, 2010
1:03 pm

So… was this a blow for “states’ rights?” Does this mean local jurisdictions need to cut out this BS of banning things that are permitted by federal law? Excellent! To what other local attempts to take away a woman’s rights can we apply this logic?

md

June 28th, 2010
1:04 pm

“I don’t get worked up much over cries of ‘this side or that side’ when it comes to court cases. I think one of Jay’s points in this is how conservatives align with the idea of states’ rights and having all powers not specifically given to the feds, etc…. yet when a case comes that lets them keep their handguns in their homes but makes the states follow the feds in this case, they pretty much avoid it in their responses.”

The decision isn’t about States rights, it is about the constitution, there is a difference.

Doc Holliday

June 28th, 2010
1:05 pm

“And you must be Ringo. Look, darling, Johnny Ringo. The deadliest pistoleer since Wild Bill, they say. What do you think, darling? Should I hate him? Yes, but there’s just something about him. Something around the eyes, I don’t know, reminds me of… me. No. I’m sure of it, I hate him.”

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:05 pm

Off topic, but a good read for the serious budget minded.
From The Navy Times…

Task force: Budget fix requires extreme cuts

By Lance M. Bacon – Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 28, 2010 5:52:59 EDT

Cut two carriers and 40 percent of new ballistic-missile subs, then slash the fleet to 230 ships and eight air wings. Terminate the F-35, Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle and V-22 Osprey. Drop down to six expeditionary strike groups, eliminate the maritime prepositioning force and place greater emphasis on surging smaller naval groups as needed.
These are but some of the eyebrow-raising recommendations provided to Congress on June 10 by the Sustainable Defense Task Force. The group was formed at the request of Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Walter B. Jones, R-N.C.; and Ron Paul, R-Texas; and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The task force proposal amounts to $1.1 trillion in defense cuts over 10 years. Slightly more than half of that amount comes from personnel budgets; the rest comes by cutting research, development and procurement of weapons systems.
While acknowledging that its recommendations will be hard for some to accept, the task force defended its report, saying a “significant number of the cuts that we propose and review represent outdated, wasteful and ineffective systems that could be foregone without any arguable impact on our national security.”
But not everyone is in full agreement — and that begins with one of the lawmakers who helped form the task force.
Jones told Navy Times that a strong military is absolutely necessary, but he requested the task force be formed because “this country is in very deep financial trouble, and I think it’s going to get worse.” He desires careful and complete review of federal spending — including defense spending — but said he does not agree with all of the task force’s recommendations. Specifically, he supports the continuation of the V-22 and opposes a reduction of Navy ships.

Normal: This is bad. The v-22 has become a disaster and, as ex-Navy
I know we don’t need that many ships. We would still have the most potent Navy in the world.

Jones said he is opposed to the number of worldwide bases the military now maintains.

Normal: This I agree with wholeheartedly!

“I don’t know how we can continue to support the bases, particularly these that have been in certain countries for over 60 or 70 years,” he said. “I think we have to be smarter with our situation.”
With an eye on diminishing budgets and rising tensions with Iran and North Korea, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead on June 24 called for continued international partnerships to hone a “just and sustainable international order.” He also continued his call for fiscal restraint, emphasizing that the Navy “cannot afford a tailor-made solution to every need that we have.”

Normal: I agree with this too.

But the CNO still is adamant that a 313-ship Navy is needed to maintain maritime security.
Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of Lexington Institute, a military consulting firm, said he “skimmed the report and moved on,” but also cautioned that the recommendations reflect the kind of political environment the Navy will be facing in the next decade.
“It will have to fight every budget year to prove the fleet is relevant,” he said. “We are talking about a country that is spending a trillion dollars each year it does not have. At some point, something has to give.”
Thompson took issue with, and laughed at, some of the report’s recommendations, notably that the military does not need a new fighter jet.
“The Super Hornet is a great aircraft,” Thompson said. “But the F-35 purchase covers the next four decades, and I’m not sure I would want to fly a non-stealthy aircraft against Chinese air defenses 20 years from now.”

Normal: Sometimes “good enough” will have to do in order to balance the budget, cut the deficit
\
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., also takes issue with some of the report’s recommendations — specifically, the call to reduce ballistic-missile subs to seven.

Normal: Remember where the submarines are built folks…

The plan for 12 new boomers to replace the retiring Ohio class is a standing point of contention, as it carries an $80 billion price tag. That would consume half of the Navy’s shipbuilding budget for 14 years.
While the task force looks to reduce boomers to save money, Courtney is looking for alternate funding. He wants to separate programs like SSBN(X) — the replacement for the Ohio class — from the military’s budget and place them in their own national security funding stream, in much the same way missile defense and sealift/auxiliary ships are funded.
He said that “no serious analysis” has said it is possible to meet mission requirements with fewer than 48 attack subs and 12 boomers: At that point, he said, “you’re ending up with shadow Navy.”

Normal: Not true at all. The Navy could use smaller carriers, cheaper diesel/electric subs and air frame refurbs/avionic upgrades
for the Hornets. Bottom line there is no navy out there that can touch ours in a shooting match. Enough
Is good enough. Want a balanced budget and reduced spending? This is a good start. We could use More teachers.

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
1:06 pm

Hey Granny!! Hey Paul!!

Granny: Those conservative activist Judges won’t let a gun be carried into their place of business now will they?

Why Granny, of course not….

Bubba – there were less people in those days. Trying shooting as many bullets in Dodge City now and see how many people will be accidentally shot.

OGK – U R UnAmerican…..AND u look like a troll to me……

Andre: The only reason You on the left want to take gun rights away is so that you can reenslave everyone. Yoiu on the left have not once been on the right side of any issue during slavery you were pro slavery and then after the civil war you backed segregation and discrimination It was president wilson for example that segregated the military for example and he was a leftist progressive.

Andre….(sigh)……..a mind really IS a terrible thing to waste….

Rob

June 28th, 2010
1:06 pm

“There’s a good chance this Court might give us our slaves back.”

An interesting statement, given that the constitutional principle that the court upheld today was one of the strongest acts AGAINST slavery ever taken by the citizens of the US. We ratified the 14th Amendment specifically to protect the rights of all Americans, especially of freed slaves, from state government infringement. And of the rights specifically described as fundamental in the effort to ratify this amendment, the Right to Keep and Bear arms was consistently listed as one of the most important. While the reactionary courts of the day frustrated the desires of the American people to protect this right through the 14th Amendment, in the 20th Century the Court began reinstating the power of the Bill of Rights against the states through the 14th Amendment, as was always intended. Today the Court just continued that process. Instead of being “judicial activism”, this is exactly the opposite. The court today took another major step in overturning what is virtually universally seen by all constitutional scholars on both sides of the political spectrum as the single worst case of judicial activism in US history – the gutting of the 14th Amendment. Bookman is just upset because he can’t accept that living in a free country means accepting that other people have rights too, even if they’re rights he doesn’t agree with or want for himself, so he slings mud. Of course, maybe he’s just completely ignorant of the history of constitutional law.

Cornell Law Student

June 28th, 2010
1:07 pm

@ Jay
The conservative majority might have ditched principles. They’ve done it before, like when Scalia decided to throw state’s rights under the bus in order to make marijuana illegal on a federal level. The question is whether they ditched the law. Substantive due process, with all of Blackmun’s emanations of penumbras, Roe, Lawrence, etc, IS the law of the land. The majority followed it because it suited them, but they still followed it.

md

June 28th, 2010
1:07 pm

“So… was this a blow for “states’ rights?” Does this mean local jurisdictions need to cut out this BS of banning things that are permitted by federal law? Excellent! To what other local attempts to take away a woman’s rights can we apply this logic?”

Again, “federal laws” and the “constitution” are 2 totally separate issues. The States are still more than welcome to legislate within the framework of the constitution – which the ruling clarifies.

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
1:09 pm

Who is Clarice Thomas?

The girly girl that’s one the Supreme Court…. DUH!! :roll:

Huckabee The Next POTUS 2013

June 28th, 2010
1:09 pm

hey mm, didn’t your precious obozo extend the ” government spying on us” and isn’t the irs going to moniter the health care of amerika. As for your last comment “Or taking away citizenship from children born in this country.” yep bad republicans. It is better with the dumpocrap plan of giving citizenship to every illegal criminal not born in this country and their rugrats, born here or not. Yes, a much better plan. Well perhaps we won’t be subjected to very much obozo bs the next few days as he plans his granddaddy byrds funeral.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
1:11 pm

KagMAN confirmations begin.

@@

June 28th, 2010
1:14 pm

Does the presence of a child in the house, where lives, a convicted felon, drug addict, or alcohol abuser matter?

Don’t know, you’d have to ask your leftists that one. It’s they, who are in the habit of advocating for convicts rights, drugs, and alcohol. Children? Not so much.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
1:15 pm

Hello, DDR!

Normal

It’s a nice start….

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
1:15 pm

“I’m kinda interested in hearing how she justified violating the law while at Harvard re: the recruiters issue -”

No justification needed, she never violated the law.

theyeshaveit

June 28th, 2010
1:16 pm

Ah, only in America would a people be proud of their “gun rights”. Only in America can we have a gun lobby, the NRA, that is deemed worthy of an exemption from finance reform. Only in America can we celebrate something like a Second Amendment and the so called wisdom of the Founding Fathers, as if the founding fathers could envision twenty first century America.

Something for the moment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY

Paul

June 28th, 2010
1:17 pm

Kagan must’ve listened to the consultants who say the number of times you blink shows how nervous you are.

She hasn’t blinked once …

Wait…. she blinked!!!! She blinked!!!!

The rest of her is frozen, though -

getalife

June 28th, 2010
1:18 pm

I am shocked they ruled against tobacco companies.

koid

June 28th, 2010
1:19 pm

TW @ 11:57- please provide a link to your 17 to 1 ratio stat.

The government will save me right?

June 28th, 2010
1:19 pm

Agree with md- this ruling simply clarifies that the states cannot ban something the federal government allows. The Heller ruling was crafted to address only that issue, so Bookman takes the liberty of using the absence of language to support his theory of judicial activism? I guess we should be used to this column doing that by now.

Hand guns can still be regulated and the sales monitored. Only 2 all-out bans still exist so only those places are truly affected by this ruling.

People should have the right to choose whether they want a handgun or not. Anyone who argues this keeps guns out of criminal hands believes the criminals buy them….and that is what is truly crazy.

@@

June 28th, 2010
1:22 pm

Good grief, Getalife! You SMOKE pot.

Smokin’ is smokin’.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
1:24 pm

Hello, DoggoneGA

Here’s a not bad summary of the Harvard controversy.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/may/16/jeff-sessions/sessions-says-kagan-violated-us-law-regarding-mili/

For the purposes of this blog, I find it much more fun to say she violated the law – specifically in regards to her stance that a school has the right to enforce certain federal laws against the military. The entire Court – 8-0, rejected her idea. The law was in force, some say she merely ‘tested’ it. I like “violated.”

Tells us a lot about her view of principle when she really backed down when the military said ‘okay, you wanna do that? We’ll follow the law and yank your federal funding.”

CW

June 28th, 2010
1:25 pm

Here is an interesting thought… Why do some use the argument that revoking the right to own a gun is in the interest of protecting children. And then they also say that abortion should be allowed for personal rights.

Where's My Party?

June 28th, 2010
1:25 pm

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
1:06 pm
Hey Granny!! Hey Paul!!

Granny: Those conservative activist Judges won’t let a gun be carried into their place of business now will they?

Why Granny, of course not….

I guess that is kind of like forcing healthcare upon the masses, say for example Obamacare, but excluding yourself, you know, like Obama did.

Right?

Drifter

June 28th, 2010
1:25 pm

Well, Mr. Bookman, how would like to hand the right of a free press over to the legislature? There’s absolutely no difference.

md

June 28th, 2010
1:26 pm

For all those in favor of gun control, look no further than Mexico, which has strict gun control laws. The cartels sure are abiding by those laws – aren’t they?? And are the police protecting their citizens?? Uh, that would be a big no, as the police are out gunned.

AndyW

June 28th, 2010
1:26 pm

Jay, your headline should have been: “Latest gun ruling proves that only 5 of the 9 Supreme Court justices actually understand the Bill of Rights.”

UsmcDawg

June 28th, 2010
1:29 pm

Jay Bookman= Anti-American d0uchebag!

Lawrence

June 28th, 2010
1:29 pm

If Jay is for it, I am against it, and vice-versa.
He is a complete loser.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:30 pm

Jay

June 28th, 2010
12:54 pm

Gun control may have been the “way” of it, but it was not the reason. Politics and power was the reason.

Del

June 28th, 2010
1:31 pm

The anti-gun crowd, who are the activists got a spanking and that’s good. The time has long past to put this left wing anti-gun fetish away permanently but that won’t happen any time soon.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
1:31 pm

CW. “For the children” is the lefts way of legitimizing damn near anything. If we do it for the poor defenseless children then we are doing a good deed.

All smoke and mirrors.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:31 pm

Jay,
Also the Clanton crowd was kinda dumb. If I were one of them and I saw Doc Holiday carrying a 12 guage Greener, I’d left town right then!

NowReally

June 28th, 2010
1:32 pm

The “Constitution” is a federal document, so let’s do away with “state” laws all together and see how fast the conservatives throw a fit. :)

Smokewagon

June 28th, 2010
1:33 pm

Skin that smokewagon and see what happens.

George Johnson

June 28th, 2010
1:33 pm

So following the constitution is “conservative activism”??? How stupid can you get???

hmmmm

June 28th, 2010
1:36 pm

During the last presidential campaign Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry tepidly spoke out against the ban by some states on ex-felon voting. He should have shouted out against it. The ban hurts Democrats far more than Republicans. Blacks make up a huge percentage of those barred from voting because of a prison stint. They are far more likely to vote Democrat than Republican.–Ofari Hutchison, BlackNews.com

Convicted felons=Proud democrats

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
1:36 pm

TW writes at 11:57 am

“For every ONE time someone claims to have used a firearm to successfully defend their person, there are SEVENTEEN accidental deaths resulting from firearms”

Source? Data? Any support?

hmmmm

June 28th, 2010
1:40 pm

Keep Mickey D’s out of the hands of our children. LOL

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
1:41 pm

All I knows is that ifin I thinks that I needs a tank to properly defend myself, then I ought to be able to git one at the army surplus store. Right along with all the other regular supplies like mortars and grenades and such… as long as they ain’t sellin’ no nooclear, or is it newkleer, weapons to terrierists, it is all right by me. Yesirreeee.

Jimmy Joe Bob

June 28th, 2010
1:41 pm

Well, just let one of Them try to get the jump on me! That’s ’cause I got my 2nd amendment right here in my front pocket with my finger on the trigger at all times! So what if people think I’m enjoying a little “secret pleasure?” Security is what it’s all about.

David Granger

June 28th, 2010
1:43 pm

Jay, I frequently disagree with you…but usually can at least understand the logic behind your arguments. But to pretend that it is “judicial activism” when the Supreme Court rules that the Constitution means EXACTLY what it says, and must be followed throughout the ENTIRE nation? Come on…you’re just saying that “tongue in cheek” to get us riled up a little, right?

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
1:44 pm

“For every ONE time someone claims to have used a firearm to successfully defend their person, there are SEVENTEEN accidental deaths resulting from firearms”

That don’t sound right to me. I would think that it is more like a one in one thousand, or greater, event.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:46 pm

Skin that smokewagon and see what happens.

All the sausage falls out?

theyeshaveit

June 28th, 2010
1:46 pm

md, here are some statistics for you.

Japan, with the strictest gun control in the world, experiences a murder rate of about 1.1 per 100,000 people. Germany has a rate of 3.9, Britain a rate of 9.1, and the gun loving U.S. is 8.7 per 100,000 people. US statistics are from an FBI report in 2005.

Matti

June 28th, 2010
1:46 pm

The states are oppressing us. Why can’t we even VOTE on whether it should be legal to purchase alcohol from a store on Sundays, when the Constitution clearly states “secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves?” If you don’t think cold beer on a hot Sunday is a blessing of liberty, ask a thirsty inmate. Let’s revolt against this tyranny!!!

jewcowboy

June 28th, 2010
1:46 pm

Just put a $400 tax on each bullet sold. As Chris Rock said…there will be no innocent bystanders then…

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:47 pm

With this new ruling, it won’t be long before we will be reading, and making a movie about “The gunfight on K Street.”

T Knight

June 28th, 2010
1:48 pm

The Supreme Court got this one right. Narrow margin of victory, but I’ll take it.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:49 pm

…or “The Congress war”…

Constructive Feedback

June 28th, 2010
1:49 pm

[quote]There’s a good chance this Court might give us our slaves back.[/quote]

TW:

I volunteer you to be Slave #1 if they do.
You already appear to be slavish in your demeanor regarding what you want the government to do for you.
I will keep my 9mm and my .347 – thank you very much.

Obama gonna take yur gun

June 28th, 2010
1:50 pm

He gonna take it. And yur ammo two.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
1:50 pm

I took an oath four times to defend the Constitution of the United States (not the President, not the Congress, not the Supreme Court, not state legislatures and certainly not city councils – all of which have violated the Constitution at one time or another) and spent 37 years risking my life to defend it.

Today it was defended by the Supreme Court and that makes me happy.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:50 pm

jewcowboy

June 28th, 2010
1:46 pm

Right, like your computer printer and the ink cartridges….

Normal

June 28th, 2010
1:51 pm

Paul

June 28th, 2010
1:52 pm

eyeshaveit

Germany? Japan? England? You really think those countries make a better comparison to US society than, say…. Mexico?!!?

:-)

jewcowboy

I still think that’s a great idea.

____________________________

Sen Graham’s just got Kagan to smile!

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
1:54 pm

Where’s My Party – what the heck are you talking about?

joe

June 28th, 2010
1:56 pm

Yeah…one less attempt at taking away our rights by the government. I applaud the S. Court’s decision. If our gov’t cant even handle security our borders, how can trust them to keep our fundamental rights in place? Lib gov’t will eventually try to take away the freedoms that make the USA great.

DLink

June 28th, 2010
1:59 pm

http://www.hrw.org/reports98/vote/usvot98o.htm

Can convicted felons have a gun to defend their home, in their own home?

md

June 28th, 2010
1:59 pm

“Japan, with the strictest gun control in the world, experiences a murder rate of about 1.1 per 100,000 people. Germany has a rate of 3.9, Britain a rate of 9.1, and the gun loving U.S. is 8.7 per 100,000 people”

Hmmm…………….Britain 9.1. And they HAVE gun control. So what is your point??

Lewis

June 28th, 2010
2:03 pm

Jay Bookman wouldn’t know the constitution if he bit him in the arse. Daley and the Chicago machine is the only judicial activism in this story. The Supreme Court simply undid the garbage the Daley tried to enact. The 2nd amendment is very clear, Jay. Stop using lies and deception like the title of your blog. Reversing activism by a junior court circuit is not an example of activism by the Supreme Court.

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
2:05 pm

md, theyes, you might want to check those murder rate stats.

see also:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

Scooter (the Original)

June 28th, 2010
2:07 pm

The constitution empowers the people and limits the governments rights. Jay seems to be concerned the constitution limits the government’s power to create a land of ice cream unicorns.

Guns, drugs and poverty are all here till the end of time.

Tyrone

June 28th, 2010
2:07 pm

Jay,

Why are you so afraid of citizens having the right to bear arms?

DawgDad

June 28th, 2010
2:08 pm

By all means let’s legislate sex out of existence and sterilze everyone. Sex is far and away more dangerous than guns, what with abortion, HIV, STDs, placing children with unfit parents, adultery, rape, population impact on the environment, contribution to rising health care costs, etc.

Logically, there is only one rational argument for restricting gun ownership among law abiding citizens – enabling tyranny.

Nick

June 28th, 2010
2:09 pm

Judicial Activism – a now useless term because it has come to mean simply anything that the writer does not agree with.

Kyle Wingfield SUXS

June 28th, 2010
2:09 pm

Im confused as to w hat the fuss is about. The Supreme Court just put limits on bans..seems like a win for both sides.

As far as judicial activism, that really never holds. The job of the Supreme Court is to INTEPRET the constitution. Any ruling they have is based on interpretation and very hard to be proven wrong.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:10 pm

“OFF TOPIC #1″

Headline: “Obama on War: ‘I Don’t Have a Crystal Ball’

You did during the campaign ! What happened to it ?

Halftrack

June 28th, 2010
2:10 pm

How can this be an unprecedented ruling. The second Amendment is clearly stated in the Constitution. What do you call separation of Church & State, which is not even anywhere written out in the Constitution? I believe you went to school with the recent city official that is opposed to Arizona’s illegal law because she didn’t know it was on the Mexico border. This is our public school education at work and you were in the same classes no doubt.

Democrat Supporter

June 28th, 2010
2:11 pm

Jay is right.
We must take guns away from citizens.
Who knows what kind of mischief the common man may cause.
No one should be allowed to have a firearm.
We must repeal the 4th amendment.

DebbieDoRight

June 28th, 2010
2:12 pm

Nick in that case, it’s always been useless then.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
2:13 pm

I love watching the emasculated cons get their panties in a wad over this stuff.

Better go out and buys lots more guns and ammo, cons. Cuz for sure, the Uppity Muslim is gonna take them away form you! Besides, you just never know when one of them terrists is hiding in a bush outside your front door. BOO!

The constantly tripping-over-their-tongue cons believe in a living, breathing document. And love their activist judges.

And when it suits them, their goofball mantra of “States Rights!” disappears quicker than a shot from .30-..30.

Hysterical…

Gay Blade 5

June 28th, 2010
2:13 pm

Why should anyone be allowed to have a gun?

Logic 05

June 28th, 2010
2:14 pm

Jay,

Are there any other parts of the Constitution you would like to repeal?

md

June 28th, 2010
2:14 pm

“Germany? Japan? England? You really think those countries make a better comparison to US society than, say…. Mexico?!!?”

Interesting, when it comes to illegal immigration, “those” people are just like us, but when it comes to gun control – not so much.

Class of '98

June 28th, 2010
2:15 pm

This is not complicated. All those rights not specifically enumerated to the federal governement are left for the states to decide.

The 2nd amendment is enumerated to the federal government.

The founding fathers wanted us to have guns to protect us not only from each other but from the government itself.

That’s what “militias” are for. This ruling correctly interprets the Constitution.

Christopher

June 28th, 2010
2:16 pm

Where in the constition does it say a convicited felon can’t possos a firearm? What if that person when he was 18 got in trouble for having a bb gun in Nj and that’s why he is a felon? Now as an adult I don’t deserve the right to have a rifle to go hunting for food, keep a pistol in my house, car, or on my belt to protect my family? In 1791 everyone was equel again after a dept for a crime was paid. Why is it impossable to get a carry permit in the most dangerious cities in the country? Why do we need a permit to carry a gun at all? Don’t I have the right to bare arms? Why do we need special permission for each state and town we go to? When guns are made ilegial the people that will have them are the people we used to have guns to defend ourselfs from.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
2:16 pm

“Nick in that case, it’s always been useless then”

Of course it has. The best example *I* can think of is the decision that corporations have the “right” to spend money on campaign ads. THAT shot down nearly a century of precedent…aka: ESTABLISHED LAW.

If ANYthink was “judicial activism” or “legistlating from the bench” THAT was.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:17 pm

Gay Blade 5:

“Why should anyone be allowed to have a gun?”

a) Because a cop is too heavy?

b) Because the Constitution says so?

c) Because the Supreme Court says so?

d) All the above

Normal

June 28th, 2010
2:17 pm

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:10 pm

No man! He said he had crystal balls, balls, man! Get your facts straight!

A private sector employee

June 28th, 2010
2:18 pm

Jay writes: ““Judicial activism” involves a subset of “wrong;” i.e., the claim that judges are usurping decisions that are better made in the legislative branch, substituting their judgment for the judgment of those elected by the people.”

If those in the legislative branch choose to amend the Constitution, there is a process to do so. But the legislative branch, in 1787, identified 10 basic individual rights, codified them into Amendments, and passed them. It WOULD have been judicial activism to declare that only one of those amendments, the 2nd, did not apply to individuals, but was reserved for States.

Because violations of firearms laws are so egregious to society, punishment for violation is harsh. In our system of law, the only way to challenge a law is to be denied by it in some way (generally by breaking said law). This is not a problem if the law is freedom of speech and the punishment is a night in jail. This IS a problem if the punishment is 20 years imprisonment as Bubba’s prison wife.So it took a LONG time to get the right case in the right jurisdiction to the Supreme Court without someone going to prison in the case of a loss in the courts.

It is not judicial activism to simply affirm what was codified in law: that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:18 pm

Class of 98

“The founding fathers wanted us to have guns to protect us not only from each other but from the government itself.

That’s what “militias” are for. This ruling correctly interprets the Constitution.”

So, the National Guard, under control of the state’s governor (when it hasn’t been called into federal service) exists to protect the citizens from the government?!!?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:19 pm

Normal:

LOL!

Bumper Sticker:

Two “oval” shaped Obama symbols placed right together with the words “neuter in November!”

Kyle Wingfield SUXS

June 28th, 2010
2:20 pm

The constitution states that you have a right to bear arms, but does not say that there can not be legislation. Thats why you need a permit. As long as it does not infringe on your right to “bear” arms then it is a states issue as to how they are legislated.

Matt

June 28th, 2010
2:23 pm

and here’s what the 2nd Amendment ACTUALLY says…

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed”

Terms that strike me as key are “well-regulated” and “being necessary to the security of a free State”.

The right to carry a concealed firearm in a bar is neither of these things…

Normal

June 28th, 2010
2:23 pm

Scout,
I think a better bumper sticker would be…”neuter your congressman.”

md

June 28th, 2010
2:23 pm

“The best example *I* can think of is the decision that corporations have the “right” to spend money on campaign ads. THAT shot down nearly a century of precedent…aka: ESTABLISHED LAW.”

Yeh, it only makes sense that corporations headed by Murdoch, Immelt, Cox, etc should be allowed to do that – equal protection is not the goal.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
2:24 pm

…or just plain old “neuter Congress”…

twister

June 28th, 2010
2:25 pm

Will some brilliant legal mind please tell me why ‘incorporation’ ever became an issue when the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution clearly states that the Bill of Rights equally applies to the states along with every other federal law passed by Congress.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
2:25 pm

“…or just plain old “neuter Congress”…”

Not really necessary…given the decision on the Iraq invasion, they’re doing a really good job of neutering Congress themselves.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
2:25 pm

Don’t I have the right to bare arms?

Danged straight! It’s too hot to wear long-sleeved shirts.

Jason

June 28th, 2010
2:26 pm

Idiot. Being able to read equals “judicial activism”?

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:26 pm

Well, Republicans are saying Kagan should decide cases based upon the law and Constitution. Senators Schumer and Durbin are saying she needs to get on the Court so she can counter the decisions of the right-wing, conservative activists judges now on the Court.

I notice both cited decisions they disagreed with. Not on the basis of law but on the effects or their view of what’s ‘good.’

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
2:27 pm

I wonder how Justice Bryer will rule on the state’s right question when the Arizona law comes before the Court. Another one of Bookman’s selective indignation stands to object when it goes against his opinion.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
2:29 pm

“So, the National Guard, under control of the state’s governor (when it hasn’t been called into federal service) exists to protect the citizens from the government?!!?”

Oh my the river of naivetee” doth crest over its banks.

neo-Carlinist

June 28th, 2010
2:30 pm

so Jay, is your beef with “conservatives” or “judicial activism”? seems to me the very term judicial activism is a conservative talking point when the SCOTUS or other Federal Court rules against their interests. I can understand this from a political or ideological standpoint, but whose “interests” are protected/effected by the 2nd Amendment?

N-GA

June 28th, 2010
2:32 pm

Let me understand this. The federal government has laws restricting possession and use of automatic weapons, but a state/municipality cannot restrict possession and use of handguns. Is the federal law illegal (un-Constitutional)?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:35 pm

“If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.” George Washington

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
2:39 pm

I doubt the court would allow a gun in their courtroom.

Christopher

June 28th, 2010
2:39 pm

Lol please excuse my spelling, I’m driving on the garden state parkway and I’m just passing where the Nj state trooper shot and killed himself in his patrol car last week, Who do gun laws protect?

md

June 28th, 2010
2:40 pm

“Let me understand this. The federal government has laws restricting possession and use of automatic weapons, but a state/municipality cannot restrict possession and use of handguns. Is the federal law illegal (un-Constitutional)?”

Subject to interpretation, but an automatic weapon is a “type” of arm, the restriction sets limits, but does not ban all possession of arms.

Greg Bruce

June 28th, 2010
2:41 pm

The first act of every dictatorship is to outlaw gun ownership by its citizens. Citizens without guns are slaves to the tyranny of the State. The Constitution of the United States recognized that government was the source of tyranny and guaranteed the right of citizens to bear arms. At the time the Constitution was written, a militia was a spontanious gathering of armed citizens such as the “miniutemen” at Lexington and Concord to resist the tyranny of King George’s government.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:41 pm

Jefferson:

It’s “their courtroom” and guess what. You don’t have to allow a gun in “your house” ! Even for a permit holder ……………….. :o

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
2:43 pm

“The federal government has laws restricting possession and use of automatic weapons, but a state/municipality cannot restrict possession and use of handguns. Is the federal law illegal (un-Constitutional)?”

I can see the possibility of it shaking out something like this: that regulation and control of guns must be done at the Federal level. That the federal laws and regulations can restrict what guns can be owned, and even who can own them (i.e. I can see convicted felons losing their right to own guns) and that any government lower than the federal level cannot restrict or regulate guns at all.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
2:43 pm

Isn’t one of the purposes of the Federal government to keep the States from usurping the rights of the people?

On the Gunfight at the OK Corral:

Admittedly, I’m not an expert on that event but there were and are those who believe the Earps basically anbushed and murdered the Clantons. There are ample instances in the Old West were people went back and forth from being lawman to outlaw. (Doc Holliday was no choir boy).

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:43 pm

Greg Bruce:

Excellents points that will fall on deaf ears (symbolically speadking of course).

“If the 2nd Amendment meant only flintlocks, then the 1st Amendment meant only quills and ink.”

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:44 pm

Jefferson

“I doubt the court would allow a gun in their courtroom.”

Why would they?

Christopher

“Lol please excuse my spelling, I’m driving on the garden state parkway ”

For cryin’ out loud, get off your Blackberry or laptop before you kill someone. Sheesh -

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:44 pm

Hillbilly Deluxe :

You are basically correct.

States can grant more rights but they can’t restrict what the U.S. Constitution grants.

PE

June 28th, 2010
2:45 pm

Sorry TW, I doubt you’ll get your slaves back. They will own guns.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:46 pm

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
2:46 pm

They should have their own guns to protect themselves. My pocketknife sets off the metal detectors.

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
2:47 pm

I am not a lawyer but it seems that the Constitution is pretty clear about the reasons that we have a right to arm ourselves. “Necessary to the security of a free State” is not too hard to understand. Seems like the Amendment is meant to protect the citizens of these free States from their government with a “well regulated Militia”. That being the case, why is Brewer criticized for protecting the border of Arizona against foreign invaders? Seems like her “well regulated Militia” aka, the National Guard and the State Police have every right to protect the citizens of Arizona from those who would elect to do harm, ie, drug dealers, illegal felons and the government of the United States if,as is the case, they are not doing their job. What are the people of Arizona to do in the face of blind incompetence from Bozo and his gang?…. sit by and watch their state go into the bucket?

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
2:50 pm

“That being the case, why is Brewer criticized for protecting the border of Arizona against foreign invaders?”

How does this constitute protecting “the citizens of these free States from their government”?

Steve

June 28th, 2010
2:52 pm

TW @ 11:57
The N word seems to be just fine when blacks want to use it amongst one another. So it does seem to be socially acceptable in that context.

Amazingly, as much as I drive through the streets of Atlanta, I’ve yet to see a GOP van parked anywhere handing out automatic weapons to the locals. Please point me in the direction, I could use a good AK47.

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
2:52 pm

A lot of the Mexicans aren’t illeagel, just undocumented. They claim their was no signs restricting their entry where they crossed into the US.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:52 pm

kayaker 71

“Seems like the Amendment is meant to protect the citizens of these free States from their government with a “well regulated Militia”.”

Isn’t the modern National Guard what the 18th-century ‘militias’ morphed into?

Jefferson

June 28th, 2010
2:53 pm

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:55 pm

kayaker 71

From the National Guard website at http://www.ng.mil/About/default.aspx

“About the National Guard

The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation’s longest-enduring institutions, celebrated its 370th birthday on December 13, 2006. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias.

The colonial militias protected their fellow citizens from Indian attack, foreign invaders, and later helped to win the Revolutionary War. Following independence, the authors of the Constitution empowered Congress to “provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia.” However, recognizing the militia’s state role, the Founding Fathers reserved the appointment of officers and training of the militia to the states. Today’s National Guard still remains a dual state-Federal force.”

Paul Stanley

June 28th, 2010
2:55 pm

First its our guns then its our LOVE GUUUUNNSSSSS!!!

Scout

June 28th, 2010
2:55 pm

I think if you will go back and read the 2008 SCOTUS decision you will find that “a well regulated Militia” is considered a subordinate clause to “the right of the people shall not be infringed.”

Translation …………. a well regulated militia is only “one” reason the founders gave for the 2nd Amendment. Others are hunting, collecting, personal protection, etc., etc.

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
2:56 pm

Paul, if you’re around–ya think the other big SCOTUS ruling

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65R4RA20100628

impacts whatever hay the GOP senators were going to make at Kagan’s confirmation hearing, with regard to the whole military recruiter flareup?

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
2:57 pm

Doggone,

It has everything to do with protecting our citizens in each of the states when our government drops the ball. The state of Arizona is being forced to do the government’s job and being severely criticized from the left for doing what our government should be doing. Brewer is doing nothing but protecting her citizens from the incompetence of the Bozo gang and it’s do nothing attitude. The main function of government is to protect it’s citizens. Bozo is doing a piss poor job of it.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
2:57 pm

BANG, BANG, BANG!!! You’re dead!

Hunting Wabbits

June 28th, 2010
2:57 pm

R toons allowed to own firearms?

Y doesn’t someone rehash the old crime statistic comparisons that show how handgun bans don’t influence crime rates. or homicides. In fact, some spin the data to suggest that gun bans increase homicides and vice versa. How about we have a OK Corral reality show where all the contestants are armed and are forced to read each other’s comments on blogs, (or witness each other’s driving skills).

Preview: “Try spellcheck, moron”. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! “Quit tailgating, loser.” BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!!

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
2:58 pm

I would like to have one of those AR-15’s.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
2:58 pm

Scout

I believe some say it was the extraordinary way – was is Scalia? – went round and round to establish that introductory phrase as a subordinate clause illustrates how the decision was ‘activist.’

Dan

June 28th, 2010
2:58 pm

Libs just don’t get the real definition of activism, Jays explanation of taking the decision out of the legislators hands is right on the money, for a topic not specifically called out in the bill of rights. Now if he would only apply such logic to liberal activist causes he may actually pen an article where 1+1 = 2

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
2:58 pm

Go to statehealthfacts.org.

According to Kaiser Family statehealthfacts.org, the number of deaths due to Injury by firearms per 100,000 population in 2006 was 10.6. Interestingly enough, the highest rate (20.6) was the District of Columbia which attempted to ban gun ownership. Go figure.

Causes of death attributable to firearm mortality include accidental discharge of firearm, intentional self-harm by firearm, assault by firearm, undetermined firearm discharge, and legal intervention involving firearm discharge.

Additionally, according to statehealthfacts.org, the number of deaths due to motor vehicle accidents per 100,000 population in 2006 was 15. Where’s the push to ban or severely restrict vehicle ownership in this country?

One final note, statehealthfacts.org identifies the number of deaths due to firearms per 100,000 population by race/ethnicity in 2006 as follows:

Black – 20.1
White – 8.8
Other – 4.1

Now, it doesn’t specify WHO is doing the killing, just who is dying. But still, the numbers are sobering. Perhaps, given DC’s rate and the racial breakdown, it might be in our best interest to find some other basis for restricting gun ownership.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
2:59 pm

When guns are outlawed then only outlaws will have guns.

FIGHT THE POWER!!

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:00 pm

I personally prefer a rocket launcher when hunting for bear. A direct hit skins the critter while also blowing the meat into perfectly tenderized bitesize morsels.

TW

June 28th, 2010
3:01 pm

Since they were doing a strict interpretation, did Thomas’ vote count 3/5ths?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:02 pm

stands for decibels :

You need to read that case carefully. The school could do that to the particular Christian student group because the policy applied to all of the other student groups as well. In other words, a Muslim student group can’t keep a Christian or gay member from joining either. As long as the school is consistent they can do that just like a high school can bar Christian groups from meeting on their campus after school hours “only” if they bar all other groups.

In other words, if a university allows “some student” groups to pick and choose who are members then they must allow Christian student groups to do the same.

Nothing really changed here.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:02 pm

sfd

I’d kind of doubt it. As I understand it, there was already law in place on the recruiter issue – ‘don’t give equal access, lose your funding.’ The other case was not so covered.

But then again, the case you cited does seem to illustrate the issue of justices making law based on what they see as ‘reasonable’ limitations or extensions, doesn’t it?

NWO

June 28th, 2010
3:03 pm

Somebody explain to me the reasoning for a woman’s “right” to have an abortion. Because I believe such reasoning would probably apply to my “right” to defend myself.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:05 pm

Paul:

As was supported by the study done by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:05 pm

” well regulated militia is only “one” reason the founders gave for the 2nd Amendment. Others are hunting, collecting, personal protection, etc., etc”

That is how I would read it also.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:06 pm

Bumper Sticker:

“Free Men Don’t Need Constitutional Rights”

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:07 pm

Doggone/GA :

……… and you would be correct. Thank you.

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
3:07 pm

‘don’t give equal access, lose your funding.’

well, except that it didn’t apply to Hahvahd, I don’t think…

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/27/why-elena-kagan-was-right-to-boot-military-recruiters-from-harva/

The details of Harvard’s precise policies and ensuing litigation are involved and somewhat technical. (For starters, Harvard Law School doesn’t actually receive federal dollars; in addition, the undergraduate college doesn’t prohibit its students from being in ROTC – it just makes them travel across Cambridge to MIT to drill and take classes.)

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:08 pm

“Free Men Don’t Need Constitutional Rights”

And that is about as wrong as it can be

Normal

June 28th, 2010
3:09 pm

Three freshly separated souls were on their way to that “Great Meeti ng Place in The Sky”, when they started talking to each other. One the others, what happen to them. The first one said, “I was just walking down the street when a refrigerator fell on me”. The second gasped, “Oh my GAWD, that was me, I’m so sorry. I came home early and found my wife naked in bed and a mans clothes on the floor. I searched,
and searched, but couldn’t find him, so in frustration I threw the frige out the window and because of the exertion, I had a heart attack.” The first guy, said, “well, I guess that’s all right then”. Then they looked at the third guy and asked, “how about you?” “Well, He said, “there I was, just sitting in this refrigerator…”

Ban refrigerators!

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:09 pm

stands for decibels :

I would like to see recruiters set up on public sidewalks (not interfering with pedestrian travel) ringing the campus and see what happens.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
3:09 pm

Doc Holliday was no choir boy

I’ll say! That good ol’ boy from Valdosta and later Atlanta has a documented eight deaths and six serious woundings to his credit. He’s probably responsible for more, but historians are unable to determine who shot whom in another eight killings involving the Earps and Holliday.

Joe

June 28th, 2010
3:10 pm

It is truly amazing that liberals are to stupid to understand the right to bear arms….

TW

June 28th, 2010
3:11 pm

“Somebody explain to me the reasoning for a woman’s “right” to have an abortion. Because I believe such reasoning would probably apply to my “right” to defend myself.”

If white men were responsible for carrying the pregnancy, you’d be able to get an abortion out of a Coke machine.

Your delusional ‘rights’ are not worth the 5-7 children who will blow their own heads off today by accident.

Grow a pair, coward.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:11 pm

Doggone/GA:

I just saw it ……… not defending it. Depends on how you interpret it.

One could say a “right” granted by a humanly written document could be taken “away” but FREE MEN won’t stand for that ………………… :o

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
3:12 pm

I state the statistics again from the last blog regarding what Americans feel about gun possession. The USA Today poll just recently completed asks the question, ” Does the 2nd Amendment give private citizens the right to bear arms”. 97% seem to believe it does. Seems that over 60% of Americans did not want the Health Care Bill and 52% would like it repealed. Seems like more than 70% think that our approach to immigration is in the bucket and needs to be changed. Is anyone paying attention?

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:12 pm

“One could say a “right” granted by a humanly written document could be taken “away” but FREE MEN won’t stand for that ”

You could SAY that…but the Constitution does NOT “grant” rights…it PROTECTS them.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:13 pm

TW

More are killed in bicycle accidents each day.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:14 pm

Doggone/GA:

Ultimately a piece of paper can do nothing !

MEN must rise up and protect themselves.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:15 pm

“MEN must rise up and protect themselves”

but the bumper sticker you quoted said nothing – as you quoted it – about rising up. It said rights were not NEEDED. THAT is a description of anarchy, not freedom. And that’s why it’s about as wrong as it can be.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:16 pm

Jay is really laying low on this one today. He must be depressed.

Normal

June 28th, 2010
3:17 pm

O. K. Corral Gun fight

The place was Tombstone, Arizona territory, the time was Wednesday afternoon, October 26, 1881 and the setting was a vacant lot in the vicinity of the stables and sheds of the O. K. Corral. But the frightened horses landed the O. K. corral as the name forever to be remembered by the showdown

The showdown occurred with Morgan, Virgil and Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday being on one side and on the other side were Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury, Billy Claiborne, and Wes Fuller. The O. K. Corral Gun fight lasted 30 seconds, Frank McLaury was dead from a bullet wound to the stomach fired by Wyatt Earp’s gun, Tom McLaury dead from Doc Holliday’s shotgun, and Billy Clanton dying from chest wounds

Wes Fuller wasn’t present for the O. K. Corral Gun fight. Ike Clanton retreated into a shop the second the bullets started flying followed close behind by Billy Claiborne. Morgan Earp fell with a shoulder wound, Virgil with a leg wound, and Doc Holliday with a grazed left hip. Wyatt Earp remained unscathed by the gun fight

At the time, these key players had no idea that they had just been involved in the most famous gun fight in the history of the wild and wicked West. Even a hundred years later, it would still be a movie maker calling card.

O. K. Corral Gun fight

N-GA

June 28th, 2010
3:18 pm

md – You’ve made my point for me. If the federal government restricts possession of automatic weapons, that would also be at odds with the US Constitution. After all, the Supreme Court just ruled that Chicago cannot ban handguns (a TYPE of gun). Shoot! (no pun….), Chicago didn’t say you couldn’t bear arms, just no handguns. You could carry around a shotgun or rifle all day long….no problemo!

Matti

June 28th, 2010
3:18 pm

How about only WOMEN have the “right” to own firearms? After all, we’re smaller, weaker, and men who never met us are trying to force us to bear the fruit of men they’ve never met, conceived under circumstances they know nothing about. The Constitution did not even pertain to us when it was written! An equalizer is in order here. Who’s with me?

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
3:19 pm

TW writes, “Your delusional ‘rights’ are not worth the 5-7 children who will blow their own heads off today by accident.”

Again, I ask you to provide a source for your comment. I did. Can you?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:21 pm

Anarchy is the absence of adherence to law.

Rights are inalienable.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:21 pm

Scout 3:05

Thanks for that and your earlier explanation of the case.

sfd

We discussed this summary earlier.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/may/16/jeff-sessions/sessions-says-kagan-violated-us-law-regarding-mili/

The decision was 8-0 against one of her positions. What I found most telling was how quick she was to back off principle when $$$ were at stake.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:22 pm

“Anarchy is the absence of adherence to law”

And that is exactly what that bumper sticker was proclaiming.

jconservative

June 28th, 2010
3:22 pm

Irony.

A lot of conservatives, me included, are applauding the McDonald decision. But it has not been that long since a big portion of the conservative movement, me not included, wanted to ditch the 14th Amendment just because of the Courts application of the “due process clause”.

Constitutional law is never as simple as it seems.

What the Court did today was say that the “due process clause” of the 14th Amendment makes the 2nd Amendment applicable to the states. The Court DID NOT say that the 2nd Amendment applied to the states on its on merits.

And yes, that is legislating from the bench. Always has been and always will be. That is what makes it a “living Constitution” even though many “proclaimed conservatives” shutter at the term.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:22 pm

Matti :

How about women having the “right” to be drafted in times of war. Right now the Supreme Court says no.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:24 pm

“How about women having the “right” to be drafted in times of war”

Women should be equally subject to any legal draft.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:24 pm

Matter of interpretation …………….

Agree to disagree ………….. just like this 5-4 decision ……………. :o

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
3:25 pm

“just like this 5-4 decision ”

Nope can’t go with that, unless *I* have the 5 vote!

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
3:25 pm

Matti,

Times have changed. I would hate to see some unsuspecting felon confront my wife and her Glock 40.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:25 pm

Doggone/GA:

I agree with you but the Supreme Court doesn’t and that is what counts.

Smokewagon

June 28th, 2010
3:25 pm

Jefferson- Ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
3:26 pm

And Big Nose Kate, Doc Holliday’s sometime companion and family feud partner when she wasn’t prostituting herself or running a boarding house, though born Mary Catherine Moroney in Hungary, would take on the name Kate Elder, as in the sons of Katie Elder.

mm

June 28th, 2010
3:27 pm

Isn’t it disgusting to watch the wingnuts tickle themselves when a republican or the supreme court do something that harms America more than it helps it?

Heck, we should just give guns away at McDonalds like they give away toys with happy meals. We should just walk around day and night with a holstered gun like it’s Dodge City.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:27 pm

Doggone/GA:

I would rather be “King” just for one day with no right to appeal or future alteration of my decrees …………….. :o

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:28 pm

mm :

Criminals do.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
3:28 pm

“I would like to see recruiters set up on public sidewalks (not interfering with pedestrian travel) ringing the campus and see what happens.”

If it happened in Athens, all the pro-war UGA Young Republicans would just cross the street…

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
3:29 pm

Nominee KagMan always appears as if someone had just given her a “dirty Sanchez”.

Outhouse GoKart

June 28th, 2010
3:30 pm

mm is just so lost.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
3:30 pm

Oh fiddly dee dee…I don’t even own a water pistol. Everybody that wants a gun can have one legally. Isn’t that what the Supreme Court said?

My friends don’t seem to see the need of strapped on pistols. Well, no one has put one in the offering plate at church. No shotouts in the parking lot.

PAUL, Kagan seems to be so stuffed with liberal mantra she can hardly blink. I think we need someone on the Supreme Court who can blink!!! It seems that cutting fed funds at Harvard DID ring a bell somewhere in her upper story. And we need her in a court where she has rarely been? NO indeed. Is she from Chicago? There must be some reason that Obama likes her besides her liberal life style. Something!!

SCOUT “MEN must rise up and protect themslves. Yesh! Women too. Equal rights!!

You are married, aren’t you?

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
3:32 pm

mm:

There are more vehicle fatalities in American than firearm fatalities. Check my earlier post. DC had a ban on handguns and they had the highest firearm fatality rate in America. How do you substantiate your comment?

Matti

June 28th, 2010
3:32 pm

Scout, Bless your heart!

Kayaker, in a society where an hour of prime-time entertainment does not begin until some woman is raped and murdered for the “heroes” to show their determined faces in a close-up, and our lives are thought by many to be as disposable as a test tube next to the importance of someone who does not yet exist, and half the men hate their mothers or first wives so much they take it out on every woman who shows them kindness, we have little choice, IMO.

Union

June 28th, 2010
3:32 pm

whats the world coming to? sigh dang that supreme court.. then you have those conservatives rioting and getting arrested at the g-20 conference.. glad ctucker and jbookman spent so much time writing about those violent and dangerous tea party ppl.. thanks for the warning!

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:32 pm

The Gun is Civilization
by Maj. L. Caudill USMC (Ret)

“Human beings only have two ways to deal with one another: reason and force. If you want me to do something for you, you have a choice of either convincing me via argument, or force me to do your bidding under threat of force. Every human interaction falls into one of those two categories, without exception. Reason or force, that’s it.

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force.

The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gang banger, and a single guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

There are plenty of people who consider the gun as the source of bad force equations. These are the people who think that we’d be more civilized if all guns were removed from society, because a firearm makes it easier for a [armed] mugger to do his job. That, of course, is only true if the mugger’s potential victims are mostly disarmed either by choice or by legislative fiat–it has no validity when most of a mugger’s potential marks are armed.

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that’s the exact opposite of a civilized society. A mugger, even an armed one, can only make a successful living in a society where the state has granted him a force monopoly.

Then there’s the argument that the gun makes confrontations lethal that otherwise would only result in injury. This argument is fallacious in several ways. Without guns involved, confrontations are won by the physically superior party inflicting overwhelming injury on the loser.
People who think that fists, bats, sticks, or stones don’t constitute lethal force watch too much TV, where people take beatings and come out of it with a bloody lip at worst. The fact that the gun makes lethal force easier works solely in favor of the weaker defender, not the stronger attacker. If both are armed, the field is level.

The gun is the only weapon that’s as lethal in the hands of an octogenarian as it is in the hands of a weight lifter. It simply wouldn’t work as well as a force equalizer if it wasn’t both lethal and easily employable.

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone. The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation… and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

So the greatest civilization is one where all citizens are equally armed and can only be persuaded, never forced.”

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:33 pm

Well, the Democratic senators sure have their talking points down for this hearing. Kagan’s needed to protect the average consumer from the activist, pro-corporate conservative majority on the Court that disregards centuries of precedent and law to craft its rulings to serve corporations.

And the conspiracy kooks have moved from the right to the left -

A private sector employee

June 28th, 2010
3:33 pm

Let’s see, TW:
In 2000, 174 children (0-18) in the United States died from unintentional firearm-related injuries

In 2000, 1,242 children in the United States died from intentional firearm-related injuries. Homicides of children are most often murders of teens by other teens.

In the United States, 1,236 children (0-18) died from drowning in 2000.

In the United States, 1,946 children (0-18) died in fires in 2000

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional deaths to children. In the United States in 2000, 6,466 children (0-18) were killed in motor vehicle crashes

In 2000, there were 1,580 suffocations,
In 1997, 225 children ages 14 and under died in bicycle-related crashes. Motor vehicles were involved in more than 200 of these deaths. In 1998, nearly 362,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries.

In terms of ACCIDENTAL deaths, drownings, fires, automobiles, bicycles, and suffocation rank higher than firearms, which usually comes in at 12 or 13th on most lists. Once you throw in disease, accidental deaths from firearms falls to about the 30th most numerous cause.

Should we ban pools, bathtubs, riding in autos, bicycles and plastic bags? Clearly, no pools, showers, walking and paper would be safer.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:34 pm

Matti:

Nice dodge !

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
3:35 pm

What I found most telling was how quick she was to back off principle when $$$ were at stake.

I don’t claim to know all that much about the history of this thing (which sounds like pretty small potatoes–we’re talking about what amounted to a rather a mild restriction in place for one (1) semester?). But it seems to me that if you get slammed in an 8-0 SCOTUS decision, isn’t it time to “back off”, if only because your job as Dean more or less requires that you do so?

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:36 pm

Georgia law was changed in recent weeks to specifically list places guns are not allowed. The change in the law removed the ban on guns at “public gatherings” but said firearms are not allowed on school property, at nuclear plants, in bars without the owner’s permission, in government buildings, at state mental health hospitals or in churches, temples or mosques.

And that just ain’t right. A person needs to have his right to bear arms, of whatever make and model, wherever and whenever he or she wants. It’s just the conservative thing to do. Blessed is the Alpha-Omega series.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
3:38 pm

West Virginia is the top exporter, per capita, of illegal guns, with 41 traced guns per 100,000 state residents, followed by Mississippi, at 39 guns per 100,000, and South Carolina, at 31. The average national rate is 11 exported guns. Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia, Georgia, Indiana, Nevada, and North Carolina round out the top 10 exporting states, per capita, reads the report, titled “The Movement of Illegal Guns In America: The Link between Gun Laws and Interstate Trafficking.”

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28076911

All “I want my Second Amendment rights and they ain’t going to take my gun from me” states.

In terms of absolute numbers for the sources of guns shipped out of state and used in crimes, Georgia is the leader by far.

joan

June 28th, 2010
3:39 pm

I have a gun. I don’t want to use it. But if an occasion comes where it is use the gun or trust in the guy who just broke into my home to be “nice”, I will definitely use it. I sleep a lot better knowing it is there.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:40 pm

sfd

I believe there were a couple of issues and a couple of challenges going on during that time. The argument ’she didn’t respect the military’ seems to me rather weak and misses the point. I’m more interested in the idea she can so definitely take a course of action that every single one of the Court members said was wrong.

But, there are plenty of decisions with but one dissenter. And that’s fine with me.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:40 pm

We should ban wars. That would be, clearly, safer… and much more affordable.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
3:40 pm

Guns don’t kill people. Idiots and scumbags with guns kill people.

And right wing heroes…

On July 27, 2008, a politically motivated fatal shooting took place at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Motivated by a desire to kill liberals and Democrats, gunman Jim David Adkisson fired a shotgun at members of the congregation during a youth performance of a musical, killing two people and wounding seven others.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:41 pm

joan

“I sleep a lot better knowing it is there.”

Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t be all that comfortable with a gun that can be readily accessed and fired if I had grandkiddies staying over -

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
3:43 pm

Define legal gun?

Define illegal gun?

If it’s illegal, it’s a crime. Punishment is in order.

Should legal, law-abiding citizens be punished for the crimes of others?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:43 pm

TaxPayer:

I agree with your 3:40 post in principle and would add banning all violent crime.

However ……………

“When civilized man can no longer stand the horror of war and refuses to fight, then he will surely be killed or enslaved by the uncivlized who can.” Author Unknown.

SPQR(laissez Faire)

June 28th, 2010
3:44 pm

They were not activists, they simply correctly say the constitutuion trumps local laws and regulations. Its a great day ..and hell, a democrat died..bonus.

Matti

June 28th, 2010
3:44 pm

Scout, one of my best girlfriends was a Marine. What’s your point? Men aren’t being drafted now, are they? She enlisted same as the rest of the guys in her unit, and there are still men in the military who whine about women being there. Wah wah wah, why don’t you do something useful like fetch some ice cream for yourself and Lt. Dan? ICE CREEEAAAAM!

SPQR(laissez Faire)

June 28th, 2010
3:45 pm

Ok i shouldn’t say that about Byrd, It’s not as giddy as when Teddy died, at least Byrd was a constitutionalist,

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
3:46 pm

On July 27, 2008, a politically motivated fatal shooting took place at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.

It’s not especially on-topic, amvet.

That said, everyone should have to read his Adkisson’s suicide note/screed at least once.

http://web.knoxnews.com/pdf/021009church-manifesto.pdf

JKL2

June 28th, 2010
3:46 pm

“sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

That could include congress if it actually came to that.

The National Guard also takes an oath to the Governor of the state they belong to. Most loarge oporations wait on federal funding, but do run at the discretion of the governor.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:47 pm

Now Miss Matti:

I said “in time of war” ! I know there is no draft (but men must register).

Have you ever heard of “equal protection under the law”? I guess the Supreme Court didn’t either the day they heard that case.

When are you women going to step up and shed blood for your country in the same numbers as men? Do you realize how far you have to catch up since 1776?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
3:48 pm

private sector

Nyanh…let’s just ban fire. Then the Cromagnons of both factions can go back to their respective caves and start over…

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:48 pm

“When civilized man can no longer stand the horror of war and refuses to fight, then he will surely be killed or enslaved by the uncivlized who can.” Author Unknown. they hire others to do it for them.

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
3:49 pm

Paul writes, “Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t be all that comfortable with a gun that can be readily accessed and fired if I had grandkiddies staying over -”

Do you leave your car keys in the ignition all the time? Maybe you keep your gasoline can in the kitchen? Or perhaps, you keep your cleaners, pesticides and insecticides out in the open.

Most legal gun owners are responsible gun owners. Yours is a extremely lame argument.

LJ

June 28th, 2010
3:49 pm

It is impossible, even with the most basic understanding of the philosophies of the founding fathers, to interpret the 2nd Amendment as anything but a protection of the people to raise arms against an oppressive government. That means a right of the individual to stockpile evil rifles and ammunition so that if the government becomes too overpowering the PEOPLE may rise up and remove the regime from power.

Today is most certainly a VICTORY for all Americans that the Supreme Court upheld the original intent of the law. It is, however, a troubling sign of where our country has gone when it takes Supreme Court decision to make ownership of a firearm legal for law-abiding US citizens in certain oppressive cities in the nation.

Even more troubling is the biased reporting. The headlines that read “Supreme Court EXPANDS gun rights” is very telling to the complete apathy towards liberty in the media. The high court did not EXPAND anything- they protected a fundamental RIGHT that is inherent to ALL men and women in a FREE society.

Remember the original intent of the Bill of Rights- it in now way “grants” us our rights- it PROTECTS the fundamental rights of nature that should NEVER be infringed upon by any government.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:49 pm

Okay, I’m confused.

Sen Kerry just praised Kagan and repeated the mantra of how she took over Harvard Law, which was in such bad shape and she did wonderfully magnificent things to turn it around.

‘cept her predecessor had the job for 10 years and is not a Distinguished Service Professor at Harvard Law. Not exactly a new job for a guy who mucked things up.

So then I thought, maybe these Democratic senators have her position confused with the head of Harvard? ‘cept the guy who was in charge then when she was at Law is none other than Sarry Summers, who’s director of the National Economic Council. Which means, if they do have the positions confused, that Pres Obama brought on board a guy who was a muck-up.

Aw heck, maybe it’s just political rhetoric -

But hey, Republican Scott Brown like her!

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
3:51 pm

Maybe it’s just me, but I wouldn’t be all that comfortable with a gun that can be readily accessed and fired if I had grandkiddies staying over -

That’s where teaching, discipline and training comes in. I was raised in a house where there were always firearms and they were always loaded. Daddy made sure we always knew where they were and we also knew we would get our asses blistered if we messed with them. He taught me to shoot when I was 5 and I was never allowed to shoot unsupervised until I was well in my teens. Most people who are accidentally shot were never taught proper gun respect and safety. If you were to hand me a gun today and say “It’s not loaded”, I’d immediately check it anyway. First thing I was taught is that all guns are to be treated as loaded.

If somebody doesn’t want a firearm, that’s fine by me but I’ve always had them and I’m always going to.

Jonathan

June 28th, 2010
3:51 pm

When the gov’t and/or liberals can 100% guarantee my and my families safety I will gladly turn all my guns in- until then………

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
3:52 pm

Oh come on folks, I’m too tired to read yur long cut’n'pasties. Don’t you have a short opinion of your own to present? One little dingleberry of delight we can enjoy in all its concise content??

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:52 pm

Yum yum

Joan’s point was she could get to a gun and take out an intruder. I made the explicit point ‘readily accessible.”

You spoke of unsecured gas cans in kitchens and such.

Try again.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
3:55 pm

TaxPayer:

So ban “war” and “crime” (we hire police to fight that) and you won’t have to worry about it.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:55 pm

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:56 pm

Yum yum

Apparently there are thousands and thousands of gun owners who aren’t all that responsible leading to the deaths of thousands of children.

“HE STATISTICS are astounding. In 1991 alone, 3,247 children and teenagers were murdered and 1,436 committed suicide with guns, and 551 died in unintentional shootings, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Gun mishaps were the fifth-leading cause of accidental death in 1992 for children aged 14 and under, reports the National Safety Council. Firearms are too readily accessible and youngsters are finding them and killing or wounding themselves and others.

These tragedies have become so common that support groups are springing up around the country such as Zero Accidental Killings (ZAK)-Texans for Gun Safety and Gun Responsibility in Every Family (GRIEF). ZAK was created in direct response to the unprecedented and disturbing number of children killed or injured by guns. The founding directors, Dianne Clements and Paula Reyes, are mothers whose sons were casualties of accidental firearm discharges. Both boys were playing with children when shot by another youngster. In each case, the weapons were loaded and left easily accessible.”

From USA Today – http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2584_v122/ai_14741862/

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
3:57 pm

So ban “war” and “crime” (we hire police to fight that) and you won’t have to worry about it.

God banned crime so all we need to ban is war.

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
3:57 pm

Paul,

My point is regarding personal responsibility. It would be irresponsible to leave your keys in the car all the time, gas in the kitchen or poison out in the open. Same with a weapon.

Come on now; you can grasp the concept. Can’t you?

Paul

June 28th, 2010
3:58 pm

Hillybilly

That’s fine. Each household is different. Seems to me, though, there are some pretty irresponsible people with guns. Add to that kids they may see once in a blue moon and…. lousy odds, it seems to me.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
3:58 pm

LJ

June 28th, 2010
3:49 pm
It is impossible, even with the most basic understanding of the philosophies of the founding fathers, to interpret the 2nd Amendment as anything but a protection of the people to raise arms against an oppressive government.

Nope. Historical context is everything. At the time of the drafting of the Constitution and its amendments, there were no national armies intended to stand. Militias were the only way states could defend themselves from invaders. It was a militia, not a national army, that fought the British in Massachusetts. The idea of a militia as a defense against a national government was unthinkable. It was only in the 1850s that the South came up with that nonsense. Your Confederate forbears would no doubt be delighted that you are carrying on their thinking.

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
3:59 pm

Well you progressive liberals just go out in the streets rioting and demonstrating and set someone’s car on fire now! You may receive fire without a flame. I love it. Liberals shot demonstrating while burning cars, throwing punches, and threating voters with bats. The conservatives stood by and witnessed the whole thing.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
3:59 pm

Hey Paul, you got it!

Kerry=Democratic senators=Kagan=zeroes=muck it up=Obama’s lil’ mudhen for Supreme Court nestings.

Matti

June 28th, 2010
3:59 pm

Scout: “When are you women going to step up and shed blood for your country in the same numbers as men? Do you realize how far you have to catch up since 1776?”

Seriously? Do you know the percentage of Colonial women who died during pregnancy/childbirth in 1776? Or how many died in pregnancy and childbirth in the 234 years since? (Nah, why would you care?) Geebuss, you had a serious head injury, didn’t you? WOMEN ARE STILL VILIFIED by many for joining the military! Especially when they combine their duties of defending our freedom and gestating the next generation of American citizens! “Who let THAT skank in?” Cracker, please…..

Scout

June 28th, 2010
4:01 pm

TaxPayer”

“……….. and there was war in heaven.”

Hummmmm ………………..

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:02 pm

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
3:58 pm
“Your Confederate forbears would no doubt be delighted that you are carrying on their thinking.”

Just think if they had more manufacturing down south during that time, you would be whistling dixie or be considered an illegal immigrant.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
4:03 pm

Paul

June 28th, 2010
4:03 pm

Yum yum

Sure. But if the point is to have a gun as readily available as a can of gasoline in the event someone breaks in (like in those burglar alarm commercials where they guy breaks through the door and comes charging in) that that rather negates the argument that ‘keep it locked, in a gun safe, ammo somewhere else’ argument, doesn’t it?

popeye

June 28th, 2010
4:04 pm

I don’t know about you Dusty, but I understand dingleberry’s are not pleasant.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
4:04 pm

…war in heaven

Earth to Scout…

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:04 pm

Paul: Just in case you didn’t see A private sector employee’s earlier post.

June 28th, 2010

3:33 pm

Let’s see, TW:

In 2000, 174 children (0-18) in the United States died from unintentional firearm-related injuries

In 2000, 1,242 children in the United States died from intentional firearm-related injuries. Homicides of children are most often murders of teens by other teens.

In the United States, 1,236 children (0-18) died from drowning in 2000.

In the United States, 1,946 children (0-18) died in fires in 2000

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional deaths to children. In the United States in 2000, 6,466 children (0-18) were killed in motor vehicle crashes

In 2000, there were 1,580 suffocations,

In 1997, 225 children ages 14 and under died in bicycle-related crashes. Motor vehicles were involved in more than 200 of these deaths. In 1998, nearly 362,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries.

In terms of ACCIDENTAL deaths, drownings, fires, automobiles, bicycles, and suffocation rank higher than firearms, which usually comes in at 12 or 13th on most lists. Once you throw in disease, accidental deaths from firearms falls to about the 30th most numerous cause.

Should we ban pools, bathtubs, riding in autos, bicycles and plastic bags? Clearly, no pools, showers, walking and paper would be safer.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
4:06 pm

Dusty

Well, I try! :-)

Yum yum

I’m not much for the ‘kids die from drowning so what’s a few more from guns’ line of justification -

TW

June 28th, 2010
4:06 pm

“Should we ban pools, bathtubs, riding in autos, bicycles and plastic bags? Clearly, no pools, showers, walking and paper would be safer.”

When a child blows their head off at the cost of your insecurity, the gun works as it’s supposed to.

Pools are for swimming, autos for transportation, and bags for storage.

Moron.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
4:07 pm

Just think if they had more manufacturing down south during that time, you would be whistling dixie or be considered an illegal immigrant.

Well, at least we know where your thoughts are.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
4:07 pm

HillBilly Deluxe,

Keep those guns handy! There are liberals around!! Just kidding!

If everybody handled guns like you, there wouldn’t be anybody fussing over this.

May I ask a favor of you? You listed some music the other day by a master guitar player who performed on his own on a stage. He was so good and the music beautiful. I meant to keep track of that but didn’t. Now I can’t find it. Would you mind repeating that? I don’t even remember his name, just his music.

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:08 pm

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:04 pm
After wwII, Stalin killed more than 52 million of his countrymen–including women and children. Is that more that died than your said causes?

How many parents neglect their children who dont die. Does it make it any better.

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:09 pm

Is TW short for TWit?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
4:09 pm

Hillbilly
@ 3:51

I’m with you. Guns were very much a part of my family’s early childhood training, and that training was much of what you are talking about. We saw to it that our kids learned as well. Unmentionable and the boys are hunters.

Joe

June 28th, 2010
4:10 pm

Hootinanny: “Should we ban pools, bathtubs, riding in autos, bicycles and plastic bags?

If we apply Hootinanny’s logic, murder should be legalized since it leads to fewer deaths (and fewer ACCIDENTAL deaths) than cars and bathtubs.

larry

June 28th, 2010
4:12 pm

All this ruling did was to take the isssue out of the control of local government and place it with the federal government. Yep that evil federal government everybody hates so much.

While this ruling gets rid of the ban, it does not get rid of the regulations.

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:12 pm

williebkind writes, “After wwII, Stalin killed more than 52 million of his countrymen–including women and children. Is that more that died than your said causes?”

Not sure what your point is, but isn’t this the perfect argument for an armed citizenry?

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:14 pm

Put the pipe down Joe…

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
4:17 pm

I’m for extreme conservatives having as many loaded guns as they like, preferably with hair triggers for those barrel-cleaning episodes.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
4:20 pm

LJ

June 28th, 2010
4:21 pm

Disgusted, you wrote:Nope. Historical context is everything. At the time of the drafting of the Constitution and its amendments, there were no national armies intended to stand. Militias were the only way states could defend themselves from invaders. It was a militia, not a national army, that fought the British in Massachusetts. The idea of a militia as a defense against a national government was unthinkable. It was only in the 1850s that the South came up with that nonsense. Your Confederate forbears would no doubt be delighted that you are carrying on their thinking.

You have a twisted view of history. Are you aware of the events that took place leading up to and during the Revolution? Let me refresh your spotted memory…

The “Shot hear ’round the world” was fired on Lexington green in 1775. This marked the beginning of armed revolt against the British crown by BRITISH SUBJECTS(note that there was no “America” yet. There was no “American” army or militia- these were British subjects firing on British soldiers).

Are you aware of what the whole PURPOSE was of the British march to Concord(Lexington was on the way there)? It was to SEIZE the arms that the PEOPLE had stockpiled. General Gage feared that an uprising was imminent after numerous “incidents” in Boston and he sent his troops to seize the weapons and powder that was presumed to be stored in Concord. A rough plan was formulated for how to react to a march on Concord after the Boston powder keg had been seized by the military.

The moral of the story is that we PROTESTED when they taxed us without representation. We REBELLED when they came for our guns.

So I ask you now, and be honest, why would the founding fathers have written the 2nd Amendment? It has nothing to do with self defense, policing, sporting, or hunting purposes. It has EVERYTHING to do with enabling the population to rise up if needed.

These men had fought a long war that began with the refusal to allow the military to confiscate private weapons. They knew EXACTLY what they were protecting. Apparently you don’t.

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:21 pm

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:12 pm
You dont think that was an oppresive governemnt?

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
4:17 pm
My sabot rounds would go through the wall and through the neighbors houses striking you possibly–if it went off accidentally I mean.

Phil Dolan

June 28th, 2010
4:24 pm

Secessionist fever is at an all-time high. Gun shops can’t get used guns because folks’r holding on to them expecting some sort of armed conflict to counter what’s comin’. They really believe Obama want’s to foster socialism. Nearly every POTUS utterance has become fightin’ words. If the economy doesn’t rally big and fast……..

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
4:24 pm

Popeye,

I ‘ve encountered blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and Castleberry’s (hash) but have to admit no dingleberries. Perhaps you would like to improve on my dictionary’s explanation of Vaccium erythrocarpus. It is supposed to be Southern grown and edible but I’ve never seen it. Maybe it is under the kudzu.

Maybe you are thinking of a raspberry. Definition: a sound of contempt made by protruding the tongue between the lips and expelling air forcibly to produce a vibration. Yeah, that one!

I love being informational here. Well, somebody’s got to do it! psttttt—->raspberry!!

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:24 pm

LJ

June 28th, 2010
4:21 pm
Progressive liberals do not know American history. I mean it has not been taught in schools for decades unless it is about progressive liberals saving the world through unions, providing human rights, and abortions.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
4:25 pm

Dusty

I think this is what you are referring to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxzhzRh7hp8

And my Grandpa always kept a shotgun hanging over the front door. It was there if the wrong person came to the door.

I’m for extreme conservatives having as many loaded guns as they like, preferably with hair triggers for those barrel-cleaning episodes.

No gun owner I know would clean a loaded gun. That’d be down right uneducated.

JEM

June 28th, 2010
4:25 pm

I am not a conservative, but your crazy if you think hand guns will ever be outlawed. And I for one hope they never will be. It didn’t work on drugs, it will not work on guns.

Mid-South Philosopher

June 28th, 2010
4:25 pm

My, oh my, Jay,

I sure wish you had shown up for class on that day in 8th grade when they taught about the Constitution and the 2nd Amendment. You might have learned that at the time said “amendment” was drafted virtually “all” male citizens were subject to being called up for service in the “militia”, if needed. Since they didn’t have “National Guard Armories” in those days, guess where they kept their weapons and munitions? That’s right… in their homes.

Now, I realize that liberals don’t like the “right to bear arms”, and I, by the ETERNAL, am all in favor of liberals, progressives, and some conservatives NOT bearing arms, but at least get the facts correct!

Of course, your column wasn’t about the “right to bear arms”, which is constitutional, but, rather, about “judicial activism.” Anyone with an above the sixth grade education knows that when one side wins before the Supreme Court, it is a “correct interpretation” of the Constitution to the winning side. While it is “judicial activism” to the other side and vice versa. “Judicial activism” is in the eye of the beholder….duh!

joan

June 28th, 2010
4:26 pm

Paul, I don’t have grandkids, but I know how to shoot. I won’t shoot unless I see who I am shooting at.

JEM

June 28th, 2010
4:26 pm

Wow. You people need to get a life.

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
4:26 pm

Yes. Why are we even having this discussion? Have you not read any of my posts?

JEM

June 28th, 2010
4:26 pm

ALL of you. Get a freakin’ girlfriend/boyfriend.

Alvin Greene for Senate in SC

June 28th, 2010
4:27 pm

Enter your comments here

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:28 pm

“Judicial activism” is in the eye of the beholder….duh!”

That would be progressive liberals. Everyone else can read the constitution.

joan

June 28th, 2010
4:28 pm

By the way, don’t any of you ever remember the Manson murders, the Speck killings of 11 nurses, one after the other, the bloody slaughter of the Clutter family in a Kansas farm? Slaughters like that happen to people who either don’t have guns or aren’t willing to use them when people break into their homes. My bet is that anyone who breaks in my home is there to do me bodily harm. If they aren’t, well then oops my mistake, but too bad for them.

williebkind

June 28th, 2010
4:29 pm

JEM

June 28th, 2010
4:26 pm
Are you promoting sex?

DublDawg

June 28th, 2010
4:30 pm

So, Bookman, the position of the amendment as second means nothing, does it? And there should be no uniformity of rights as there is with the First and Third, and others incorporated (all but the Seventh)?

I’d be you’d approve a reading that left the First Amendment non-uniform in its application and allow the state legislatures and local governments to pass laws to regulate exercise of the right of speech, wouldn’t you?

The dissenting opinions make no sense and hold no water upon closer scrutiny.

Bookman, you are a typically, know nothing liberal that knows absolutely nothing and therefore stand on the sidelines all of your life.

Alvin Greene for Senate in SC

June 28th, 2010
4:30 pm

Jay doesn’t like guns, wants higher taxes, isn’t interested in securing our borders and wants you readers to go back to sleep.

The MSM editors will decide what is best for you.

Stop thinking America! You are too dangerous.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
4:30 pm

Dusty 4:24

You don’t want to go there. Trust me. My education came from one unfortunate decision to watch and episode of The Man Show.

Hello joan

As you likely surmised from the other posts, people read a lot into a post. I said nothing about guns’ legality, whether or not people are responsible (except in answer to a post), whether it’s effective or not. I merely noted if I had a gun so accessible that I could take out a guy busting into the house that I’d want to think about the accessibility issue if little kids were visiting.

It’s not about you hitting what you aim at. It’s about kids hitting whatever the gun’s pointing at.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
4:31 pm

How did Stalin and the Revolutionaries sneak in here? Where’s my AK47? It is getting stuffy in here. ( I think the humidity is about 90% in these parts today..for real!!)

DublDawg

June 28th, 2010
4:36 pm

LJ;

This is an erroneous statement:

So I ask you now, and be honest, why would the founding fathers have written the 2nd Amendment? It has nothing to do with self defense, policing, sporting, or hunting purposes. It has EVERYTHING to do with enabling the population to rise up if needed.

I’d agree that maintaining the balance of power in favor of the people was the overarching purpose of the Second. However, to say that is has nothing to do with self defense, hunting, etc. is erroneous, and I’d suggest further reading. Jefferson was the primary proponent of the Bill Of Right, and coincidentally, the Second. He and George Mason wrote on the issue of possessing guns and having the right to hunt. Their legislative endeavors in VA were a thumb to the nose in response to English law that had for centuries proclaimed wild game as property of the crown and forbid commoners from hunting stag, roebucks, etc.

Pogo

June 28th, 2010
4:36 pm

Will the liberals, in their un-ending search for a human utopia, ever learn that government and the courts cannot legislate or litigate morality and self-accountability ? Probably not. And make no mistake, that is what we are talking about here. If it wasn’t guns it would be baseball bats, knives, poisons, explosives or some other means by which the more unsavory elements of our society would find to kill each other. Guns just seem to be the more political ” flavor of the day” and are and have been a rallying cry for the left. People who are irresponsible and that want to do harm to their fellow human beings, for whatever cause, will always find a way to do so and they WILL find a weapon to do it with. All it takes is a lot of free time and a depraved personality and bingo, you have carnage! The big difference is whether their victims have the means to fight back. That is the difference we are talking about here. America has gone way too far down the firearms road now to deprive its decent citizens of a means to protect themselves from the element which would harm them. If the country had been built upon a society with no guns from the start, things may be different but the reality is that guns are here, they are going to stay and we can’t just have the police (who cannot be at all places at all times) and the bad guys carrying them. The bad guys are becoming more numerous and infinitely more disconnected from the value of human life.

Disgusted

June 28th, 2010
4:36 pm

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

What part of “well regulated” and “security of a free State” don’t you understand, LJ? The “well regulated” phrase specifically rules out a Wild West type of insurrection–any weapons bearers are to be under the regulation of a state. And most militias did not have storage locations for their weapons. Militia members took their weapons home with them after undertaking periodic drills–thus, it was essential for the weapons to be in their possession. And “security of a free State” has nothing to do with defending yourself in your home. Rather, it specifically addresses the need for a state to defend itself against aggressors–and the forefathers never considered a federal government as a potential aggressor or else the states would never have ratified the Constitution.

There were state and county militias in the South (and a lot of northern states) right up to the outbreak of the Civil War. Five of them were in my home county, and all were called up to serve in the newly formed Confederate army. My great, great grandfathers and my great, great uncles were members of those militias. I don’t see the point you’re trying to make.

popeye

June 28th, 2010
4:37 pm

Dusty….Please follow paul’s advise.

In conclusion if you don’t know what you are referring to, or speaking of it’s best to remain silent.

Trust me!

Rick

June 28th, 2010
4:44 pm

Paul:
No, the National Guard is not equivalent (nor a morphed version) of the Militia. Do some research. But at a very basic understanding, ask yourself how our Federal government could call them to active Federal service and send them to Iraq or Afghanistan (or Korea in the 50’s or Europe in the 40’s). They are inherently linked to the Federal government by the legislation which created them.
But not to worry, your error is a very common misunderstanding.

Gay Blade 5 : Why should anyone be allowed to have a gun?
So the poor guy who is accosted by a pick-up of gay-bashers has the only equilizer capable of defending his right to self-defense.

On machineguns and the 2nd: Again, do some research. They are “illegal” due to Interstate Commerce and taxed for revenue. Some states are actively pursuing (Montana and others) that a machinegun built and used within their state is not restricted by the Federal legislation. Court cases are progressing.

Other thoughts:
A person can only lose a right upon conviction of a crime if a person had the right before conviction. Hence, if an individual can lose his right “to bear arms,” he must possess such a right. (Spencer v. Kemna )

Should you chose to not exercise your right to self defense (to keep and bear arms), then that is your choice. You have an inalienable right (whether you consider it God-given, or just written into our animal DNA), it is your right and not our Government’s to “give” you. In our mechanical age, firearms have largely rendered irrelevant male-female (gay-bashers/gay, criminal/law-abider, felon-victim) differences in strength.

Lastly, from a partisan perspective. If your party or political ideology has you discard your firearms or forbid them from your fellow citizens, then your future is indeed bleak. All that will remain is an armed government and those you have made criminals (who will not give up their guns). Your liberal agenda will become irrelevant. Liz Michael is much more eloquent in her open letter to Liberals (www.lizmichael.com/openlett.htm).

And don’t forget to watch the documentary “No Guns for Negroes” at http://www.jpfo.org. It is free for download and distribution by the fine race (Jews) who were disarmed by the their government. Nothing bad happened from that; right?

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
4:44 pm

The Georgia Militia wasn’t officially disorganized until 1951.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
4:45 pm

Well, the right to bear arms is rather moot without the right to bear drones, etc. I mean, it’s like bringing a slingshot to a goliath match but with goliath wearing protective armor. Flintlock versus tank just won’t cut it here in the pampered state of america. It’s not like we can live off the land, in the caves. We’re not taliban. We’re civilized. We’d have to find us some hessians.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
4:50 pm

Flabby Republican men in muscle shirts should voluntarily cede their right to bare arms…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
4:51 pm

Rick
“… race (Jews) who were disarmed by the their government. Nothing bad happened from that; right?”

I wasn’t going to bring it up, but this is the best case for a well-armed citizenry I can think of. Once they got a few arms in Warsaw, things didn’t proceed quite so smoothly for the authorities…

Paul

June 28th, 2010
4:52 pm

Rick

“No, the National Guard is not equivalent (nor a morphed version) of the Militia. Do some research”

Ummm,. did you read the article at the link written by the National Guard about the history of the Guard and Congressional involvement in changing the Revolutionary War militias into the Guard?

"Information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment" - BHO, May 1, 2010

June 28th, 2010
4:52 pm

“Today, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, it ruled 5-4 that state and local governments are as bound by that interpretation as the federal government, a step that greatly restricts their ability to legislate in that arena.” — Bookman.

This means states can’t choose what parts of the Constitution they want to enforce or ignore.

Duh…. The states can make their own laws as long as they do not interfere with personals liberties granted in the Constitution and subsequent amendments.

This is a no brainer….

Gun ownership is a settled matter of law.

Off Topic:
Bill Clinton said, “The Navy go should deep and and blow up the well. No nukes, but it can be done.”

Scout

June 28th, 2010
4:55 pm

josef:

Oh, yes. You and I know there has always been the exception.

TaxPayer:

“sonar to bridge, sonar to bridge” “God to TaxPayer”

Got to run ……….. back this evening !

Paul

June 28th, 2010
4:55 pm

Rick

Or stands for decibels’ earlier post about how the majority opinion had to make the point that the well regulated militia phrase had to be construed as a subservient clause to make the gun rights ownership work. Which means the militia is not all people. Subservient to – a subset – militia was comprised of commoners, but not all commoners with a gun constitute a militia. Especially today.

LJ

June 28th, 2010
4:56 pm

Disgusted, “Regulated” had a very different meaning than you have ascribed to it in modern vocabulary. Viewing other official documents from the era you will see “regulate(d)” used as a way of describing how effective or efficient something is

http://yarchive.net/gun/politics/regulate.html

The “Well Regulated Militia” may be read as “An “effective” militia”.

And the founding fathers ABSOLUTELY considered the Federal Government to be a real danger to the freedom of the people in the future. I urge to you read papers written by Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and others. You clearly have no idea what their political philosophy was.

As Jefferson said:
What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
Thomas Jefferson

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
4:56 pm

A little history on the Georgia Militia. Your polling precinct may well be the remnant of an old Militia District. Mine is.

http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/what_do_we_have/GeorgiaMilitiaDistricts.htm

"Information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment" - BHO, May 1, 2010

June 28th, 2010
4:59 pm

Under the same ruling The Feds can shut down all medical pot in the USA.

This decision will also apply in the border states. The AZ case is completely different but “sanctuary” cities are next.

When Uncle Sam decides to push back he will have precedent on his team.

Rick

June 28th, 2010
5:01 pm

Paul:
One article does not make the truth. That should be very evident by reading the article at the beginning of this thread.

They may have a common genesis (although that is debatable). But the point of my comment was not their origin, but: The National Guard is part of the Federal Government. It was created by Federal Legislation and can be called up by the Executive.

It is not equivalent to a cilvilian militia, which was to protect us from the government.

JohnnyReb

June 28th, 2010
5:02 pm

Let’s settle this and move on to something more interesting like Barry’s cap & tax redistribution of wealth proposal, or the Dems big grab for more power through the financial reform bill. How about all the people who think guns should be outlawed have a marking, let’s see, maybe a yellow circle, on their car and the left sleeve of all their garments. It would be clear sign to the whole world they are against guns and don’t have one.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
5:02 pm

I believe that the Founding Fathers would have found the thought of a home without a firearm, especially on the frontier, as unthinkable. A gun-free society wouldn’t have occurred to them. It would be as alien to them as a home without electricity would be to the vast majority of us.

Peter

June 28th, 2010
5:03 pm

Is it legal to strap a gun on and wear it around like in the old west ?

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:03 pm

Rick

So…. are you saying we have a civilian militia today, as we did in the 1700s? And that it is not the Guard?

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
5:04 pm

“God to TaxPayer”

I’ll bet you think that you maintain a direct line of communication, Scout.

Pogo

June 28th, 2010
5:05 pm

Flabby liberal men in nighties should cede their right to continuously blow hot air.

Fletch

June 28th, 2010
5:05 pm

I’m from Chicago – the city most impacted by this ruling. Being from there, we always found it ironic that the law disarmed law abiding citizens, leaving the criminals alone armed to the teeth.

Even if you are not a fan of guns, why would you want to give up any right for any reason?

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
5:06 pm

“I believe that the Founding Fathers would have found the thought of a home without a firearm, especially on the frontier, as unthinkable”

That might be truer than you think. People of the “class” that a lot of the founding Fathers came from might agree with you, but the majority of average citizens didn’t even own a gun…most particularly, those in the cities. Gun ownership in those days was not as widespread as most would like to think.

Jose

June 28th, 2010
5:07 pm

The big government libs must be livid.

The best part about the decision is that it used the incident where guns were denied to former slaves after the American Civil War and the Second Amendment was used then to reaffirm the individual rights.

Now if anyone tries to reverse this new ruling, they will be labeled a racist. In fact the four dissenting judges should be labeled racists.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
5:08 pm

Paul,

Well, I never heard of The Man Show and Miss Manners has never mentioned the aforemention subject. But I will be more knowledgable and only say …psssttt—>raspberry!! … while I sniff delicately into my hankie!!

HillBilly,

Thanks but that is not the music I had in mind. The one I liked sat on a lighted stage by himself without distinctly western shirt but casual coat. Don’t remember seeing any of the audience. His music sounded almost classical. Hope you can find him.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
5:08 pm

My biggest issue is providing enough airstrips to handle all the personal drones. I mean, a man, every man, and woman, should have the right to bear drones and that takes a lot of space for takeoffs and landings. And the extra burden on the air traffic controllers… I shudder at the thought. The tax increase needed to pay all those extra union employees would be unbearable.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:10 pm

Dusty

I tried to warn you….

TaxPayer

Some of those drones fit in backpacks and can land on a suburban lawn. Only trouble is, they have an awful lot of trouble getting off the ground when the militia guys try to attach a Hellfire to them -

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:10 pm

The SCOTUS has ruled that personal gun ownership is protected.

It’s been a done deal since:
“June 26, 2008
In a 5-4 vote Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declared for the first time that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of individual Americans to keep and bear arms. The court said gun ownership is an individual right, not connected with military service, and that it can be regulated in some ways.” — NPR

AGAIN FOR THE SLOW PEOPLE….

It’s law y’all.

The states cannot infringe on your personal liberty to own a firearm.

The SCOTUS has also held that handgun bans are unconstitutional.

lovelyliz

June 28th, 2010
5:10 pm

The right to bear arms but doesn’t SPECIFICALLY mention bullets.

Rick

June 28th, 2010
5:10 pm

That clause has been subserivant for many, many years. It only became right-restricitve when it was used in Miller in 1939 to “show” a certain firearm was not protected because it was of a type “the militia” did not have in use. It has been “used” in error ever since. The DOJ did a wonderfully researched paper on this some years back. The authors were AG Bradbury, AG Nielson, and G Marhall.

JohnnyReb

June 28th, 2010
5:16 pm

So, none of the progressives here like my idea of identifying themselves as against guns by marking themselves and their property?

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
5:18 pm

Popeye & Paul

I”ll stand by my dictionary any time! It lists quite innocently what you decry. If somebody wants to mess with the language, it’s not my mudcakes. Both of you need a mental mouthwashing for knowing bad connotations to good words. psssttttt—->another raspberry!!!

By the way, where is Bosch? Did he commit harikari after the USA soccer loss? Poor baby. He’s probably heartbroken.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
5:19 pm

Dusty

Help me out a little. Do you remember when I posted it? The ol’ brain ain’t what it used to be. :lol:

Doggone @ 5:06

I wouldn’t disagree with you about gun ownership in cities of the time but on the frontier it was a necessity. You had no one but yourself to depend on for defense but much more importantly, it was essential in feeding yourself and family.

I can remember my Grandpa talking about being about 6 years old (1890’s), and his mother, who was all of about 22 or 23, telling him to take his little brother and go kill some squirrels for supper.

BADA BING

June 28th, 2010
5:19 pm

Ted Kennedy’s car killed more people than all the guns that I own.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:19 pm

Inconvenient

I believe the Court said their ruling was restricted to handguns in the home. Period.

Didn’t mention shotguns. Or rifles.

“Issue: Whether the Second Amendment is incorporated into the Due Process Clause or the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment so as to be applicable to the States, thereby invalidating ordinances prohibiting possession of handguns in the home. “

Lee

June 28th, 2010
5:19 pm

I miss Charlie Reese. Ah, there was a real columnist. Bookboy would do well to read a few of his columns.

Charlie’s take on the 2nd Amendment:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese463.html

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:21 pm

Ah yes…. Nancy Pelosi’s bullet restriction methodology.

Micro serial numbers and limits on types and quantities that can be purchased……

Thank you lovelyliz. However you’ll be thrilled to know that this has also been decided by the courts….. Except for the “micro serial numbers” issue.

I don’t have an issue with serial numbers.

Ammunition limits are ludicrous because anybody can make their own.

Besides… Most people who shoot a lot “reload” their casings or sell their brass for scrap because it’s a fraction of the price of new stuff.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
5:22 pm

Pogo, Pogo, Pogo.

QUIT trying to be funny. Or even clever. It just ain’t your thing.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to integrity and honesty in reporting? I read where someone referred to Dennis Miller as a comedian.

An outrage I tell ya…

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:22 pm

Dusty

Come, come now…. you’re not saying you’ve never, ever in you life had something go into your brain you wished hadn’t gone? Never heard a new, rude word? Never heard a new takeover of a previously-thought nice word?

I was wonderin’ about Bosch myself. Hopefully he’s just drowning his sorrows.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
5:22 pm

Dusty–
Yeah, where is Bosch?

D*ck Cheney…D*ck Cheney… :-)

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
5:22 pm

“I wouldn’t disagree with you about gun ownership in cities of the time but on the frontier it was a necessity”

Certainly…but the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution weren’t written by backwoodsmen. They were written by highly educated men, of a generally wealthier class. Gun ownership, to them, was not a matter of life or death, but WAS a matter of national security.

Rick

June 28th, 2010
5:22 pm

Have to sign off. It’s been fun.

No, I do not belong to an organized, well-regulated Militia (just getting that out of the way).

But in answer to your last question. Yes, there are many Militias in the US today (use your favorite search engine). Are they well-regulated? Some are, some aren’t.

Have you forgotten the Michigan Militia so quickly? And yes, our government does not approve of them. It usually plants FBI into their membership as it did the Klan and Socialists (and Mosques today).

This is the point of “partisan” paragraph. Give up your guns if you want. The liberal agenda will be irrelevant: no guns = no power. Read Ms Michaels open letter. It is a fun read.
Spoiler: She is recommending that her Liberal friends do not give up their guns, so their views will always be heard.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
5:25 pm

Paul,

I just don’t know if there would be much market, outside the CIA, etc., for drones that cannot rain down some Hellfire.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:27 pm

Paul -

Are you suggesting the SCOTUS has a grey area regarding shotguns and rifles? Really?
Uhhhh… Is hunting allowed in all 50 states?

Can I still legally hunt in California?
ANSWER: Yes

http://www.hunter-ed.com/ca/index.htm?gclid=CKvPobvcw6ICFQPJsgodyG4t6A

Crickets go chirp, chirp…..

Brett

June 28th, 2010
5:29 pm

I carry a gun. Because I need to carry a gun. That need does not apply to 80% of the drooling goons of the NRA and other assorted uneducated weak thugs who call themselves “patriots” and “Murcuhns.”
A pathetic lot to be sure.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
5:29 pm

Doggone @ 5:22

I better understand your point now. I’d pretty much agree with it.

That brings up the topic of most of the Founding Fathers being basically upper class Englishmen who were PO’d about having to pay more taxes and not having a say in it but that’s another story for another day. :lol:

casual observer

June 28th, 2010
5:30 pm

I need the government to tell me how to act. Ineed the government to dictate all aspects of my life. They are doing such a good job in all area’s. Myself and all of the rest of the sheep…..I mean people of the dependant class are so gratefull.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
5:30 pm

Well, I was going to say,would someone please strap a personal drone on TAXPAYER? And set it off..

But I won’t. No use to waste a perfectly good drone on a teapot tempester…. ..

.

Matt

June 28th, 2010
5:34 pm

Although ruling that the 2nd amendment is an individual right does restrict state and local governments that in of itself doesn’t seem to be ‘judicial activism’. Governments can still restrict aspects of gun ownership but that can no longer just pass blanket bans on handguns.

I don’t see the 2nd amendment as a collective right, are any other of the original 10 besides the 10th amendment considered collective? Reading the other 8, they all seem to deal with ‘people’, ‘persons’ and ‘accused’.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
5:35 pm

Dusty,

Such violence from someone that claims to be a lady. Of the evening, perhaps.

T-Town

June 28th, 2010
5:36 pm

What amazes me is that a document written over 200 years ago, by a number of men who thought they were providing a guidance for future generations to remain completely independent/free, could cause such chaos. They probably didn’t see the waves of attorneys coming to make our lives much easier.

SugarHillDawg

June 28th, 2010
5:36 pm

No, Comerad Bookman,it was a victory for the American people!It’s a shame that 4 justices voted against the constitution.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:38 pm

Matt —

The Hell with the “collective”.

Marxism is evil.

In the USA, we believe in, and will never surrender our Liberty to the Collective.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
5:38 pm

“That brings up the topic of most of the Founding Fathers being basically upper class Englishmen who were PO’d about having to pay more taxes and not having a say in it but that’s another story for another day”

Not much left to say actually! But here’s a tidbit for you: one of the “thorns” in the colonies sides was a British law that prohibited the colonists from using metal shovels. They were restricted, by law, to using only clumsy, crude, heavy wooden shovels. One of the first “native” industries to spring up after the War of Independence was the manufacturing of metal shovels and other farming tools.

Can’t remember where I learned that…probably the History Channel or something.

The real, bottom-line issue was that the colonists considered themselves English, but the English government considered them to be something in the nature of “employees” – existing to enrich England, not themselves.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
5:40 pm

Well, the Ten Commandments included coverage regarding one’s right to use arms. Bear them if you will. Seems like such a waste though unless one intends to ignore the prime directives via mis-interpretation of the New Testament.

Doggone/GA

June 28th, 2010
5:41 pm

“who thought they were providing a guidance for future generations to remain completely independent/free”

They never thought that they, or future generations, would EVER be COMPLETELY “FREE” – they knew better than that. That’s why they set up a government of LAWS.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:41 pm

typed too fast cuz Matt the Marxist is poisonous.

My Liberty trumps your collective good.

Marxism is evil, corrupt and on display in Toronto at the G20.

ULTIMATE FAIL !!!

getalife

June 28th, 2010
5:42 pm

“Citing Corruption, House Dems Cut Off $3.9 Billion In Reconstruction Money”HP

Obey strikes again/

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
5:43 pm

The recent history is unequivocal and damning. Activist Republican judges are threatening to destroy our nation’s judicial system. many cases in environmental, civil procedure, discrimination, and political law clearly demonstrate this.

They and their unread hypocritical enablers treat the United States Constitution as though it were a living breathing document.

The neo-cons only deem judges “activists” when they don’t rule on behalf of their paymasters in corporate America.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:44 pm

Rick

For when you return –

“Yes, there are many Militias in the US today (use your favorite search engine). Are they well-regulated? Some are, some aren’t. ”

Just because some group of guys with guns and a cause calls themselves a militia doesn’t make it so in the 18th century 2nd amendment case -

Inconvenient 5:27

Am I suggesting the Court decision majority opinion specifically stated they were referring to handguns in the home?

Yes.

Do you have a cite from the decision showing otherwise?

Bawney Fwank

June 28th, 2010
5:45 pm

TW

June 28th, 2010
11:57 am
For every ONE time someone claims to have used a firearm to successfully defend their person, there are SEVENTEEN accidental deaths resulting from firearms – many of which involve children finding them in the closet of the parent retard who put it there unsecured
That’s pure BS!
If you check the National Safety Council statistics you will find gun related accidents, including hunting is way down on the list of children accident causes, behind auto-accidents, skateboarding, cheerleading, bikeriding, football, and 20 some-odd activities.

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
5:49 pm

Now, PAUL, my mind and heart were as pure as new fallen snow!!! And then…….I started blogging!!

My vocabulary has increased several manholes of immensity! The School of L & D (lowdown and dirty)!! Every mother’s woe and wariness! The purity police most deadly crime!!! Alas!!!! No longer a white dove amongst us!!! A shame!!!!

Which brings us to Bosch. Maybe he eloped with the lady in orange shorts. That is something that only a desperate man might do.. Soooooo

HILLBILLY.

Maybe it was last Friday but sometime last week with the good music. Oh, he was sooo good!!! Did not know a guitar could sound that great…(Mine certainly does not sound great yet! I haven’t given up hope though..)

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:51 pm

Obama should hit “The Internet Kill Switch”.

He (Or any other POTUS) can now activate the control for 4 months without any Congressional authority.

Do you really like this idea?

Can you speak today?
Will The US Government allow you to speak next week?

TERMINATE THE KILL SWITCH NOW !!!

Paul

June 28th, 2010
5:53 pm

Dusty

So… you swam through the sewer and emerged smelling of lilacs. Congratulations!

We should send you to Congress.

Bosch? Elope with Orange Shorts Lady?

I don’t think even HE could ever get that drunk -

Jimmy62

June 28th, 2010
5:54 pm

It’s in the Constitution, Bookman. States cannot deny my rights under the Constitution. It’s the supreme law of the land. Why do you support breaking the law by taking away my rights, no matter where in the U.S. I live? A locality that says I cannot bear arms is restricting my Constitutional rights. Justify it how you like, but this isn’t activism, it making local governments abide by the Bill of Rights.

Also, when are you and Cynthia going to have a column condemning Obama for letting those Black Panthers intimidate voters with baseball bats in Philadelphia? Or is that ok to you because they are black?

Personally, I think it’s sickening that Obama is letting them get away with it, but his entire Justice Department has been instructed NOT to pursue cases of voter intimidation by black people. I guess Obama is a racist, unwilling to apply the law equally to all races and creeds.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
5:56 pm

An Inconvenient Constitution,

Probably just the fall our from the past two habeus corpus-free administrations.

But as we all know, the Imperial & Unilateral Presidency doesn’t have ENOUGH power!

They NEED that line item veto…

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
5:58 pm

Paul – Please drink some warm milk.

Matt

June 28th, 2010
5:59 pm

I was using collective as a term for a group (i.e. state) right, like people who say the 2nd amendment was for the state itself and not the individual persons.

Matt

June 28th, 2010
6:00 pm

Hey, when is Cynthia Tucker’s histrionic, hand wringing column going to be published?

Blood in the streets! Mayhem!

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
6:00 pm

When we babble about gun deaths-lets not assume all deaths are bad. Gang related shootings-except when an innocent bystander is hit- not such a bad thing. Dead Crip? Cool.Dead Blood? Great!

Course gang members and street trash are the stupidest people on earth-Kos and democratic underground members not withstanding- and they will shoot bystanders.

Perhaps we should offer free marksmanship training for gangbangers.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
6:02 pm

AmVet — I disagree with your postings about almost everything.

You and I have found common ground.

This is good.

Free Speech is critical and non-negotiable?

No Kill Switch?

Dusty

June 28th, 2010
6:02 pm

Oh my goodness, TAXPAYER has now called me a lady of the evening. En garde, TAXPAYER. Prepare your drone as mine strikes at dawn!!!!

My dueling second is Josef who knows how to shoot off his mouth so you are one dead duck. (I started to use a so-called bad word there but Paul & Popeye won’t let me. Censorship!)

Truth be known, I turn into a kitchen lady around six in the evening. and now!!!! The pumpkin has arrived with six white horses! Giddiup! So long….

Paulo977

June 28th, 2010
6:03 pm

Granny G re:sauce for the goose notsauce for the gander ..Indeed,indeedThat is what it seems we are allabout..Somejust got there fastbeing born withsilverspoons tie to their u cords and hold tight to theright to do what the h***they please

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
6:04 pm

Somtimes a home intruder gets shot. Rapists too. Armed robbers. The total number of deaths and injuries reflects a certain number of good shootings.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
6:04 pm

Line Item Veto is bad.

Congress should get it right or it gets sent back for modification to get passed some other way.

This has worked for centuries. Keep it.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:05 pm

Hillbilly and Doggone

The New England colonies went to revolt for economic reasons. The Southern colonies went to revolt for philosophical reasons. The Mid Atlantic colonies had to more or less be pulled in kicking and screaming!

How to pull the three together to form a new nation, to me, speaks to the brilliance and foresight of those individuals…

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
6:07 pm

I recall an old SNL skit- show us your guns. Pretty funny. I have a Para .45 and an XD40.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:07 pm

Inconvenient

Me in response to your question: “Am I suggesting the Court decision majority opinion specifically stated they were referring to handguns in the home?

Yes.

Do you have a cite from the decision showing otherwise?”

Your response at 5:58: “Please drink some warm milk.”

That’s an awful lot of words to say ‘no.’

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:09 pm

DUSTY

Ma’am it will be my honor to defend your rep*tation! :-)

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:09 pm

Dusty

“(I started to use a so-called bad word there but Paul & Popeye won’t let me. Censorship!) ”

Just ‘decorum,’ dear lady -

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
6:10 pm

AmVet — I disagree with your postings about almost everything.

Presuming you are one of those in the Moniker of the Day camp, I have no idea what yours are. And given that fact, likely care even less. Without some shred of information to go on, I’ll take it as a compliment though.

Free Speech is not some throw away concept that the conned love to give lip service to while they try to pass idiotic Flag Desecration Amendments.

As I’ve said before, keep your filthy hands off of that sacred document neo-cons…

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:10 pm

Hi josef nix

Saying ‘rep*tation’ when referring to Dusty sounds suspiciously like ‘reptilian.’ You don’t suppose she’s a ‘V’ do you?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:11 pm

left for chicks…

“This is my rifle,
this is my gun.
This one’s for shooting
and this one’s for fun.”

Bob

June 28th, 2010
6:11 pm

what right is not an individual right ?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:14 pm

PAUL
The bilingual Blue-Nosed B*tch, Moderator, does not like P-U-T-A…

But Dusty reptilian…nanh, she’s hot-blooded!

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:16 pm

josef nix

:-)

We just had one of our fast-moving thunderstorms move in. Rain sheeting down and flood warnings. I may have to shut this down soon but don’t want to as I’m halfway thru a massive data backup -

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
6:20 pm

Paul, I hope you have a GOOD battery backup.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:20 pm

PAUL

No rain on the horizon for us…need some though…got my back-up completed. It’s become an obsession after a recent fiasco…

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
6:22 pm

Robert Byrd, the former Klansman, has passed away. Rest his soul.

The Senate Financial Reform Bill is one vote short…. West VA will appoint someone temporarily but…….

The November 2nd election is 127 days away.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:22 pm

thanks, AmVet. Luckily I’m pretty well done for the day. Data backups – an external, plus another external and on disc which are in a safety deposit box.

Paul

June 28th, 2010
6:23 pm

josef nix

Unfortunately, none of us gets converted until we’ve gone through a fiasco!

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
6:24 pm

AmVet –

I was hoping for a polite response.

OK.

Kill Switch or not?

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
6:25 pm

The big government libs must be livid.

Huh? This ruling, from this court? that’d be like being livid at the sun rising in the East.

We knew as soon as they took the case more or less how they’d rule. Sounds as if they’ve left plenty of wiggle room to regulate gun ownership, so… eh.

Mostly, though, I feel more or less what Jay had expressed earlier–it reveals the folly of believing in Roberts’ silliness about how he’s just like an umpire, just calling balls and strikes. Our SCROTUS are overturning long standing legal precedent here, they are doing it because they are ideologically bound to do this, but… it’s not judicial activism because it just isn’t that when republicans do it so stop saying that!

A REAL MAN

June 28th, 2010
6:28 pm

These guys show up to work and PUT ON A ROBE.

The only reason that they haven’t ALREADY seized our guns is because they CAN”T.

They only have as much power as you GRANT them.

This should tell you all you need to know about this FEDERAL RACKET.

Article 3, Section 1 US Constitution—————————They claim that we can’t EVEN give them a PAY CUT!!!!!!!! ….NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!——-

Section 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Riiiiiiight.

These guys are just throwing a bone to placate the meek among us as they FORCE you sheep to buy HEALTH INSURANCE this fall. AND,,,,A WHOLE LOTTA GREEN CRAP.

REAL MEN ignore these tyrants.

popeye

June 28th, 2010
6:28 pm

Dusty….Dingleberries, and now strap-ons?

Whoo girl … What’s next in your little perverse mind?

Steve

June 28th, 2010
6:30 pm

That Pesky Second Amendment!
Jay calls reading the plain language of the Constitution activism. He knows its a dishonest argument but that has never interfered before. Why start now.

Obamunist Savant

June 28th, 2010
6:34 pm

Only criminals and cops should have guns.

Anybody who uses a firearm in the commission of a crime should get life in prison.

Mandatory because they used a gun.

Cops should be armed with machine guns and grenades.

The American people should just trust their government to protect them…. Especially in the border states.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
6:36 pm

Dear Dusty,

Twas purely an observation on my part that you tend to show up here around sixish, give or take. Nothing to get your knickers knocking over.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
6:38 pm

We got random internet kill switches up here. We also call them lightning strikes.

Old Retired English Professor

June 28th, 2010
6:38 pm

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

As I told generations of students, sloppy writing will get you in trouble every time. And this amendment, regsrdless of its author, is sloppily written.

It begins with a construction that grammarians call a nominative absolute—a construction that has nothing to do with the independent clause that follows it. Take this nominative absolute as an example:

Dinner being done, we went out on the porch to talk.

The nominative absolute Dinner being done has nothing to do structurally with the clause that follows. It doesn’t really explain why they went out on the porch to talk. It merely describes a condition precedent to the decision to go out on the porch and talk. Now had the writer stated, “Because we were bored after we finished dinner, we decided to go out to the porch to talk,” there you have a plain old adverbial clause that clearly specifies the reason.

The same can be said of the structure of the Second Amendment. The nominative absolute at the beginning has nothing to do with the clause that follows it. It doesn’t explain why the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Had the author(s) of that amendment written, “Because a militia is necessary for the security of the State, people who are members of it need to keep and bear arms. Therefore, that right shall not be infringed,” the meaning would be clear because there is a clear connection between the adverbial clause and the independent cause. In fact, it doesn’t even define state, a term that is used to designate a nation (e.g., the Department of State) as well as a subdivision of that nation.

Take heed, younger people, about your writing. I wish the authors of the Second Amendment had done likewise. We would have been free of a Supreme Court decision as well as hundreds of posts about the right to bear arms. I bid you all a good night.

david

June 28th, 2010
6:39 pm

http://www.tnugent.com saw Ted at HOB in Myrtle Beach Saturday. He had Machine guns on stage to keep the liberals in line! Great decision for gun rights and Cynthia Tucker must be reeling from this loss. She should pay homage to Boortz and the pro-liberty folks!

Ninja

June 28th, 2010
6:40 pm

Jay is clearly wrong here. While a well-regulated militia is the rationale for having the second amendement, it was deliberately worded so that it was not a necessary requirement for the THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms. Seriously, if the purpose is as a last resort against a tyrannical government, how stupid would it be to have that same tyrannical government pick and choose who can be armed? Not one of his brightest moments.

However, the absurd hypocrisy of the conservatives using the “fed trumps state” argument should not be overlooked.

Atlanta 1

June 28th, 2010
6:42 pm

Conservative judicial activism verses liberal judicial activism.

Whats the difference – where you stand on the issue.

No more – no less.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:43 pm

OREP

Thanks! Seriously. You summed it up. It’s why I try to stay out of this one as much as possible.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:45 pm

Atlanta 1

Yep.

RW-(the original)

June 28th, 2010
6:48 pm

I prefer the view from Gary Larson. There should be a right to arm bears.

Should Justice Sotomayor be brought up on perjury charges now that she’s clearly demonstrated that her confirmation hearings were a farce?

stands for decibels

June 28th, 2010
6:50 pm

As I told generations of students, sloppy writing will get you in trouble every time. And this amendment, regardless of its author, is sloppily written.

Yeah, I’ve made that point more than a few times myself. Horribly written, probably by design, because the people behind it were being weasels (didn’t want to commit to a standing army, but needed to have something in there that’d make something more or less like one possible.)

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
6:51 pm

#1 – Constitutional Amendment requiring Term Limits for all members of Congress

#2 – Constitutional Amendment requiring a Balanced Federal Budget every year, no excuses.

#3 – Seal the US borders in the next 6 months. Those who are here can stay if they agree to the border closure in terms.

#4 – Repeal the 16th Amendment (Income Tax) and replace it with a Flat Tax or Fair Tax, a National Lottery and massive consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

#5 – Congress must repeal The War Powers Act. This law allows the POTUS to start wars without an official declaration by Congress. Congress granted it and they can take it back. Get it done.

#6 — 15% Across Every Board, Spending Cuts, Starting Next Congressional Term. ALL OF IT !

Start there.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:51 pm

RW

Hey! How long before we can quote our great populist hero? :-)

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:53 pm

RW

Wait a second. I just reread your post. Arm bears? Do you really want to Bruin to have an Uzi?

kayaker 71

June 28th, 2010
6:54 pm

Professor,

You can mind fu** it to death but it still says the same thing.

RW-(the original)

June 28th, 2010
6:54 pm

josef,

12 minutes and 45 seconds should work, but your comment went sailing right over my head. Who might our great populist hero be?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:54 pm

REAL NAME

You won’t get an argument out of me against any of your points…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
6:55 pm

RW
“The Supreme Court ruled, now let’s see them enforce it…” :-)

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
7:00 pm

“Seal the borders” is such a strong phrase. Can’t we simply shut the border doors but allow for seepage.

Scooter

June 28th, 2010
7:01 pm

Well,I will leave all the political arguments and “blogger bashing” to the rest of you folks today.But,before I go I would like to say that I am glad I can still legally own my firearms and the ones passed down to me by my family members.

RW-(the original)

June 28th, 2010
7:12 pm

josef,

The funny thing is that if you google that quote you get exactly one hit.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
7:12 pm

josef @ 4:51

I’m sure you remember this:

“Several years ago I was invited to the Atlanta office of the FBI to view an exhibit of Holocaust photos. The exhibit began with a photo of a small Jewish store in Warsaw, Poland. Subsequent photos showed Jewish citizens with big yellow stars sewn on the front of their clothes. The photos became progressively more disturbing and the last photo showed naked bodies being removed from an oven at one of the Nazi death camps. However, in the middle of the collection was an amazing photo of a ragtag group of about fifteen Jewish men and boys taken during the 1943 “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”. They had obviously assembled very quickly and were standing and kneeling there on the street with an odd assortment of weapons; a few shotguns, a rifle or two, some pistols and revolvers and even a captured German belt-fed machinegun. As a group of community leaders arrived at that photo, everyone became extremely vocal at the courage displayed by those men and boys. I then stated in a loud voice so all in the exhibit area could hear; “good reason for the 2nd Amendment folks.” You could have heard a pin drop.”

md

June 28th, 2010
7:14 pm

“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Per National Guard as militia:

Technically, the fed military is the “people”, yet the 2nd allows for the people to bear to counter the feds. As the NG is also controlled by the “gov’t”, I would think the same applies.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
7:17 pm

TaxPayer:

Matthew 10:34 (New International Version)
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Bawney Fwank

June 28th, 2010
7:19 pm

PEOPLE ASK WHY?

Why Carry a Gun?

My old grandpa said to me ‘Son, there comes a time in every man’s life when he stops bustin’ knuckles and starts bustin’ caps and
usually it’s when he becomes too old to take an ass whoopin.’

I don’t carry a gun to kill people.
I carry a gun to keep from being killed.

I don’t carry a gun to scare people.
I carry a gun because sometimes this world can be a scary place.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m paranoid.
I carry a gun because there are real threats in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m evil.
I carry a gun because I have lived long enough to see the evil in the world.

I don’t carry a gun because I hate the government.
I carry a gun because I understand the limitations of government.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m angry.
I carry a gun so that I don’t have to spend the rest of my life hating myself for failing to be prepared.

I don’t carry a gun because I want to shoot someone.
I carry a gun because I want to die at a ripe old age in my bed, and not on a sidewalk somewhere tomorrow afternoon.

I don’t carry a gun because I’m a cowboy.
I carry a gun because, when I die and go to heaven, I want to be a cowboy.

I don’t carry a gun to make me feel like a man.
I carry a gun because men know how to take care of themselves and the ones they love.

I don’t carry a gun because I feel inadequate.
I carry a gun because unarmed and facing three armed thugs, I am inadequate.

I don’t carry a gun because I love it.
I carry a gun because I love life and the people who make it meaningful to me.

Police protection is an oxymoron.
Free citizens must protect themselves.
Police do not protect you from crime, they usually just investigate the crime after it happens and then call someone in to clean up the mess.

Personally, I carry a gun because I’m too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin’…..author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

**********************************************
A LITTLE GUN HISTORY

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
——————————

In 1911, Turkey established gun control. >From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
——————————

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves were rounded up and exterminated.
——————————

China established gun control in 1935. >From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
——————————

Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
—- ————- ————-

Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
——————————

Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
—————————–

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century because of gun control: 56 million.
——————————

You won’t see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.

Take note my fellow Americans, before it’s too late!

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson.

With guns, we are ‘citizens’. Without them, we are ’subjects’.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please spread this anti gun-control message to all of your friends.

The purpose of fighting is to win.
There is no possible victory in defense.
The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is more important than either.
The final weapon is the brain.
All else is supplemental.

SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN!
SWITZERLAND’S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE.
SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!

IT’S A NO BRAINER!
DON’T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

I’m a firm believer in the 2nd Amendment!

Tea Party Platform -----

June 28th, 2010
7:20 pm

#1 – Constitutional Amendment requiring Term Limits for all members of Congress

#2 – Constitutional Amendment requiring a Balanced Federal Budget every year, no excuses.

#3 – Seal the US borders in the next 6 months. Those who are here can stay if they agree to the border closure in terms.

#4 – Repeal the 16th Amendment (Income Tax) and replace it with a Flat Tax or Fair Tax, a National Lottery and massive consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

#5 – Congress must repeal The War Powers Act. This law allows the POTUS to start wars without an official declaration by Congress. Congress granted it and they can take it back. Get it done.

#6 — 15% Across Every Board, Spending Cuts, Starting Next Congressional Term. ALL OF IT !

Start there.

We are not a bunch of wacko freaks.

We are offering common sense.

Pause…. Reconsider…… What is best for you and your kids?

Tea Party Platform -----

June 28th, 2010
7:29 pm

Neither Democrats or Republicans will give you what we are offering….

Think America…..

Eff them!

We aren’t stupid.

Pay Attention. Vote for candidates you understand.

It’s easy….

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
7:37 pm

A US Senate committee has approved a wide-ranging cybersecurity bill that some critics have suggested would give the US president the authority to shut down parts of the Internet during a cyberattack.

Senator Joe Lieberman and other bill sponsors have refuted the charges that the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act gives the president an Internet “kill switch.” Instead, the bill puts limits on the powers the president already has to cause “the closing of any facility or stations for wire communication” in a time of war, as described in the Communications Act of 1934, they said in a breakdown of the bill published on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee website.

Inconvenient, I would have to read considerably more about it to make any kind of informed reply. But on the surface it appears somewhat less pernicious than the quasi-fascist BushCo suspensions of sacred liberties such as habeus corpus, corporate assisted legalized illegal spying, big government bureaucracies, etc in his contrived War on Terror.

When the vast majority of rightists said nary a peep.

Yet, it follows in the footsteps of the atrocious Communications Act of 1934 and Federal Radio Act of 1927, which contributed heavily to the ongoing corporate sublimation of we the people’s sovereignty and which makes me very, very leery.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
7:40 pm

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
7:42 pm

AmVet

Habeas Corpus is still MIA…like you say (if Jay agrees…) Bush II

Tea Party Platform -----

June 28th, 2010
7:46 pm

Jim DeMint is running against Alvin Greene for Senate in South Carolina.

Just sayin’……..

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
7:48 pm

Tea Party Platform,

I disagree with several of those points, but all in all, I think there is some common ground to push ahead from. (I know, grammatically awkward.)

I favor taxing the things we don’t like – gambling, cigarettes, booze (yes, I’ll pay more for my beer and cigars), pollution, etc. and most importantly on stock and currency speculation.

And lowering taxes on the things we do, like good old fashioned work and necessities like food, clothing, housing, etc.

Tea Party Platform -----

June 28th, 2010
7:48 pm

Off Topic:

Is the oil still gushing into the gulf?

Curious Observer

June 28th, 2010
7:49 pm

Before I go to bed tonight, a few comments to Senator Byrd:

Thank you for helping to make it possible for an old hillbilly like me to go to college and even graduate school. Thank you for being such a powerful supporter of the GI Bill and for funding for higher education. You showed us that being born in poverty didn’t necessarily dictate that anyone had to stay that way. You fought for us.

Thank you for remembering the least of us. West Virginia needed roads and schools too, and it needed a way for some of us to dig our way out of deplorable conditions.

Thank you for having the courage to respect the constitution and the foresight to see the inevitable consequences of the invasion of Iraq. You showed guts when others showed expediency and popularity. And that quality is why Hillary Clinton isn’t president today.

May God judge you favorably and grant you early admission to paradise. For all your faults, for an old boy with no money or education and practically no chance in life, you done good.

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
7:49 pm

Bawney-luv ur name-You are incorrect on the jap invasion thing.That is a myth. Also proly not fair to say all those people died because of gun control. Some may have survived if armed-not all of em.

That said-why would ANYONE, except weenies and chicks, favor gun control? The hardcore stuff I mean.

SNL first season, google-utube show us ur guns vid. funny stuff.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
7:51 pm

AmVet

Which ones do you disagree with? Why? Not being snarky, I’m interested in your viewpoints here…

Tea Party Platform -----

June 28th, 2010
7:54 pm

Ahhhh — But AmVet….

“stock and currency speculation”?

This is how those who pay attention make money…

Money and wealth is good. “Collectivism” is bad.

Pay attention and make smart decisions = make money.

Welcome to America.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
7:56 pm

left for chicks

How much have you read on the survival rate in those (few) areas where the local partisans armed the Jewish resistance?

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
7:59 pm

Scout – Old Testament: Thou shalt not kill.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:00 pm

It’s George Bushs’ fault the hurricane just turned north toward the oil spill.

Oh goodie….

Paulo977

June 28th, 2010
8:00 pm

kayaker71 re:Brewer protecting us against these ‘illegal’ invaders with their death dealing WMD’s murdering thousands of our innocent men, women children and babies and devastating this land . So many of our citizens have had to flee to other countries and in addition they are also stealing our oil and enriching their elite!!! Hmmm they are a bad lot!!

I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...

June 28th, 2010
8:03 pm

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Isn’t this the same lib that whines about militias?

Know what I mean?

Anyway, some of us are not skeered of firearms, thus we have manned up and own an ass of them. Bigger ones than most scumbag criminals carry. Proceed with your unlawful intents with the full knowledge that I will create a new hole in your chest should you pry on the wrong window.

And some people have a problem with this concept?

I know the criminals do, just sayin…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:03 pm

Old Testament..
Hebrew…thou shalt not MURDER…

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:04 pm

The G20 protesters were just a bunch of misguided youth but those dang Tea Party revolutionists are the real threat.

The internet is too dangerous.

How dare you speak sumthin’ Uncle Sam don’t like?

@@

June 28th, 2010
8:05 pm

Hillbilly:

“Kilmer is no more a bad boy than he is a choir boy”, but he was THE BEST Doc Holliday.

You woke up this morning
Got yourself a gun,
Mama always said you’d be
The Chosen One.

I’ve been taking my guns to the gym.

theyeshaveit

June 28th, 2010
8:07 pm

@@, and Gilbert Arenas brought his guns to the Washington Wizards locker room.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
8:08 pm

jonix, I’ll reply concerning one of the proposals – term limits.

I am NOT a big fan of screwing with the US Constitution. And as much as I’d like to try to stop the entrenched enthronement of career politicians with vast amounts of dirty slush and campaign money, I’m not sure term limits are the answer.

An engaged, informed and empowered electorate seems more likely to implement change. I would mandate that the corporate owned media allow political ads and open, free debates at no charge. Not these closed-off parallel interviews as adjudicated by the American Politburo, aka the media owned Commission on Presidential Debates. After all, those airwaves belong to us – we the people. And an emasculated Uncle Sam doesn’t even collect rent for us!

I would allow for Instant Runoff Voting which allows all votes to count.

I would advocate for increased voting (not less like some of the cons want) via weekend and holiday Election Days. Currently between 40% and 80% of eligible voters stay home.

Therfore, I would implement a binding None Of The Above on all ballots. If NOTA takes a plurality or majority of votes, that election would be canceled or invalidated, along with the dismissal of the candidates, and a new election would be called.

I also advocate for the National Initiative.

Comments?

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
8:09 pm

Nix- not much – ya gott figure -gun control or no- not everyone would be armed- and even some of the ones who were-would still be taken.

Anywho- how well did they do? Just saw a movie-my research-haha- about armed jews hiding in the forest, and kicking some German butt. Defiance was the title. Claims to b true story.

Always liked history- but this I never knew.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:13 pm

“The law doesn’t matter anymore……
We’ll just choose what we want to do” —– Liberals

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
8:18 pm

Money and wealth is good. “Collectivism” is bad.

So are bumper sticker quotes in lieu of cogent discourse.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:18 pm

Go back to sleep America.

“You will be assimilated. Do not resist. We are here to help and protect you.”

HELL NO !

HELL NO AGAIN !!!!!

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:19 pm

AmVet

Not screwing with the Constitution is the best argument for this one…and overall, I can see your points. My response to that, though, I admit, is an emotional reaction. However, i have seen it at work in Costa Rica and it is, in their view, at the heart of their democratic regime…wait four years, and run again…a lot of its representatives are re-elected after the wait…don Pepe was re-elected three times as President after waiting the required two terms…your other proposals do hold up to scrutiny, in my opinion…and add to the discussion of term limits…

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:19 pm

AmVet is sad.

getalife

June 28th, 2010
8:20 pm

Enter your comments here

An Inconvenient Response

June 28th, 2010
8:20 pm

The truth doesn’t matter, I’ll just say whatever I want. — An Inconvenient Constitution

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
8:21 pm

No worries, mystery meat. Your request for polite discussion is as transparent as your inane arguments.

getalife

June 28th, 2010
8:22 pm

The con activist judges are overturning laws but the worst we have seen so far was the citizens united rw crap.

A direct assault on our democracy and nothing from the tea party.

Franken nailed them on that bs today.

@@

June 28th, 2010
8:25 pm

eyes:

I’m talkin’ these kinda guns.

We’ve got a gun somewhere, but danged if I know where it is. My BB gun is by the backdoor. Haven’t hit a dog yet, but I keep trying.

I’m assuming Gilbert Arenas is an athlete? Don’t watch sports.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
8:26 pm

jonix, I have also considered that. And to some extent there is no stopping anyone from running until they finally win. Look at how many serial losers like Nixon and Reagan did. But it would seem that is only going to be harder, not easier, to run on the exact same platform that you lost on two or four or six years ago.

And i believe that the NOTA ballot option puts one helluva hit on the currently unstoppable lesser of two evils. Or the evil of the two lessers.

An Inconvenient Response

June 28th, 2010
8:28 pm

@@, those are the types of guns that I would not mind in the neighborhood. ;-)

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:31 pm

left

“Defiance” is historically very accurate. For general readers, Leon Uris’ “Mila 18″ does a good job of presenting the Warsaw Ghetto situation. We are only just now beginning to deal with the subject of resistance since the Russian archives are just now being opened and it was in the Soviet areas that the Jewish partisans were the most active. The survival rates there were considerably higher, though the statistics are not yet collated and analyzed. My own area of research deals with Hungary. There the highly limited “success” outside of the Budapest situation (which had its own characteristics) was relative to the degree of support of the local population and its own resistance. In the eastern areas of Transylvania, the Jewish resistance saved thousands and was armed. As I said, it’s just now beginning to be analyzed and that analysis has to proceed district by district…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:33 pm

AmVet…
I am certainly a proponent of NOTA…it scares the sh*t out of the politicians and our chances of getting it are slim to none, but believe me, if it ever were, we’d see a lot of changes post haste…

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
8:35 pm

Saw one lefty cryin bout kids-teens being shot. HEY STUPID- those numbers are inflated by young gang bangers killing each other for fun. Stupid. Three year old gets shot- front page news-cause it is RARE!

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
8:36 pm

Thou shalt not commit murder

As in intentional killing versus accidental killing.

Curious Observer

June 28th, 2010
8:36 pm

Just saw a movie-my research-haha- about armed jews hiding in the forest, and kicking some German butt. Defiance was the title. Claims to b true story.

The Jews were fierce fighters within German lines in Eastern Europe, jnix. For a fictitious account based on actual history, read Herman Wouk’s War and Remembrance, if you haven’t already. Jewish partisans lived in holes in the ground in the forests and inflicted great casualties and materiel losses on the Germans during their invasion of Russia. Wouk knew whereof he wrote. Nobody else in war history would have gone to the trouble of digging up the names of the downed torpedo plane pilots and their enlisted gunners at the Battle of Midway. The history of the Jewish resistance goes well beyond Warsaw. My hat’s off to Wouk for his meticulous research.

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
8:45 pm

Thanks Nix. I will read up. Had a science teacher @ c gwinnett in1980- skipped all his classes tho. Also thanks to curious.

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
8:46 pm

teacher named nix I mean. I am drunk-heh heh

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:46 pm

Turn it. Twist it. Deflect it.

Don’t answer.

Liberals hate information.

#1 – Constitutional Amendment requiring Term Limits for all members of Congress

#2 – Constitutional Amendment requiring a Balanced Federal Budget every year, no excuses.

#3 – Seal the US borders in the next 6 months. Those who are here can stay if they agree to the border closure in terms.

#4 – Repeal the 16th Amendment (Income Tax) and replace it with a Flat Tax or Fair Tax, a National Lottery and massive consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

#5 – Congress must repeal The War Powers Act. This law allows the POTUS to start wars without an official declaration by Congress. Congress granted it and they can take it back. Get it done.

#6 — 15% Across Every Board, Spending Cuts, Starting Next Congressional Term. ALL OF IT !

Start there.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
8:47 pm

josef:

1) Your hero might have been one of those in the photo I saw !

2) Thanks for clarifying the original Hebrew word for TaxPayer. I didn’t have the heart.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:48 pm

The Hebrew text uses the verb “ratsah, to murder” and not “harag, to kill.”

Ratsah…
Murder: O.E. morðor (pl. morþras) “secret killing of a person, unlawful killing,” also “mortal sin, crime, punishment, torment, misery,” from P.Gmc. *murthran (cf. Goth maurþr, O.Fris. morth, O.N. morð, M.Du. moort, Ger. Mord “murder”). from PIE *mrtro-, from base *mor-/*mr- “to die” (cf. L. mors, gen. mortis “death;” mori “to die;” see mortal). The spelling with -d- probably reflects influence of Anglo-Fr. murdre, from O.Fr. mordre, from M.L. murdrum, from the W.Gmc. root. Viking custom, typical of Gmc., distinguished morð (O.N.) “secret slaughter,” from vig (O.N.) “slaying.” The former involved concealment, or slaying a man by night or when asleep, and was a heinous crime.

Harag–kill
Kill–1200, “to strike, hit, beat, knock.” Sense of “to deprive of life” first recorded early 14c. Perhaps from an unrecorded variant of O.E. cwellan “to kill” (see quell).

To kill someone is acceptable given the conditions of the stuation. To murder someone is never so.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
8:50 pm

Does everyone remember what actually “sparked” our Revolution? Hint – it wasn’t taxes.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
8:52 pm

Scout,

I think even you understand what I mean when I post, Thou Shalt not Kill, in the context of our exchange regarding wars. Grow up.

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
8:53 pm

Bookman looks gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Leftys r like that. Course rightys have chickenhawks, so there u go.

An Inconvenient Constitution

June 28th, 2010
8:54 pm

The Obamunists want you to take another nap.

Please don’t question their methods or positions.

Anyone who dares to speak out should be sent to a Haitian Gulag.

Tea Party people are dangerous and should be isolated and interned.

Shut down all free speech in America.

This is good for us.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
8:55 pm

TaxPayer:

You sir are always very selective in your use of scripture. Remember, a text taken out of context is no text.

Regarding war, God commanded the Israelites to “slay” those in their way quite often so I suggest you take it up with Him.

He’s the editor. I’m just the newspaper boy.

P.S. I’m 63. How about you?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
8:57 pm

The left is for chicks:

Depends on what you mean by “Chickenhawk”. Did you ever read the book? A great read!

By that author’s definition, a “Chickenhawk” was someone who was chicken to go into battle but once they were forced to become engaged with the enemy they became hawks!!

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
8:57 pm

Scout

He probably was. I was taught about him as a child.

left..
Got a bit of the vino taking hold myself! Nix, eh? Teaching is a family tradition on that side, too. And we’re all related…inbred as all get out! We’re related to ourselves… :-)

Curious
Wouk is good, no doubt…I think one of the reasons “we” feel so strongly about this subject in my and my children’s generation is that the image of us going peacefully to the slaughter is not the case and, if we admit there was a resistance, then we have to deal with a “new Jew” and that unsettles those who have trouble dealing with the Hebrew Tarzan…nice to have friends, but don’t count on them…

Scout

June 28th, 2010
9:00 pm

josef:

NEVER AGAIN !!!

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
9:02 pm

Scout,

If you intentionally kill another, you have committed murder in God’s eyes. You spin that any way you want. You pull that trigger on a gun with it aimed at another human and that human dies as a result of your action, then you committed murder. Take that up with God if you like.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:04 pm

left chick

While you’re at it, you might want to look into the gay resistance in Holland! The Gerret van der Veen group is a good place to start and especially this fellow

http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/arondeus-willem-tf/

In his last statement…
“Tell the people that we gays are no cowards!”

David Scott (D) Ga 13th District ----

June 28th, 2010
9:08 pm

Please support Dr. Deborah Honeycutt for Congress in November 2010.

David Scott must be removed.

http://www.honeycuttforcongress.com/

If you want to change things in metro ATL then start with this candidate. Send $5 or $10 bux.

Pay Attention. Watch ‘em.

NO MORE DAVID SCOTT !!!!!!!

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:09 pm

Scout

And the Hebrew is most often “harag” for “slay” as well…Cain did not “slay” or “kill” his brother, he “murdered” him. Yael “slew” or “killed” Sisera.

SPQR(laissez Faire)

June 28th, 2010
9:15 pm

“Why would hitler have archeological teams scouring west hollywood, Dr Jones?”

“An army that carries Judy Garland’s ruby slippers before it..is invincible…”

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
9:17 pm

Just taking a shot nix- nuthun wrong w/ gay. Im wearing panties as we speak, looks funny on a 50 yr old. man -Playin sir- thanks for historic info- To tired and buzzed to hit ur link tonite-but my sister an first cuz r gay- people r what they r. I am turned on by rabbits- what u gonna do-

Kidding. good nite all.

SPQR(laissez Faire)

June 28th, 2010
9:17 pm

alternately….

“My president, where are the jobs you promised if we passed the stimulus?”

“we uh have uh uh Top men working on it”

“who?”

“top uh men! Persons! I uh mean Persons!

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
9:19 pm

A paper delivery boy at 63. Good for you Scout. It’s good to stay active. Try to avoid windows and lawn sprinklers. K. As for my age, what do you need to know for. Please tell me what you would do with that knowledge. If I said I was 103, would you accuse me of being too old and senile to discuss matters intelligibly. If I said I was 23, would you tell me that I’m just a naive little one that could not possibly understand your life’s experiences. And if I said that I am 63… What, Scout. By the way, you never did go back yesterday to that exchange between NIF and myself and tell me what concerned you in that exchange. Was it getting too late for you.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:21 pm

laissez

Alexander the Great. General Patrick Cleburne…just to name two…

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:22 pm

josef,

Are you becoming a conservative? Welcome to the right side.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:23 pm

left chicks

no offense taken whatsoever…. i assumed you’d be open-minded on the subject…it wasn’t for “education,” but for interest…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:24 pm

Del

What brought THAT on? :-)

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:25 pm

Too late for SCOUT???? Oy, he outlasts ME around here… :-)

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
9:26 pm

Josef (sometime a long time back)

About the Southern colonies fighting the British for philosophical reasons, that’s true but a lot of ‘em were Scots-Irish and they just philosophically hated the British. Any reason to fight ‘em was a good one to them. ;-)

Dinner being done, we went out on the porch to talk.

I agree that’s a clumsy sentence. If it had said “Supper being done, we went out on the porch to talk”, it would have made perfect sense to me. You see if it’s summer time, and you’ve got no TV or radio, and supper is done, you go to the porch to talk. It’s understood.

I just hit a button and saw something on my screen I’ve never seen before. I wonder if that was the Bruin sneaking around in my puter. :lol:

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
9:26 pm

Nix- did read ur link- thank u sir-no jokes- it is good 2 no thr truth.good nite.

The left is for chicks

June 28th, 2010
9:27 pm

damn, i am drunk-hahahhaha

Scout

June 28th, 2010
9:29 pm

Taxpayer:

You have “serious issues” and I think you would argue that water wasn’t wet.

Isn’t it great to live in a free (so far) country ?

Scout

June 28th, 2010
9:30 pm

Hillbilly Deluxe:

Have you read “Born Fighting” by Senator James Webb ?

David Scott (D) Ga 13th District ----

June 28th, 2010
9:30 pm

“I represent Clayton, Douglas, and Cobb County.”

I’ve been EFFING you.

Please vote for http://www.honeycuttforcongress.com/

Scout

June 28th, 2010
9:31 pm

I guess Jay just did this thread this morning and went home mad.

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:31 pm

Guns, guns, guns…what’s is this crazed hatred for an object that can do absolutely nothing unless it’s misused in the hands of a human being. Come on folks, there are more accidents and fatalities associated with vehicles on the road driven by drunk drivers. Probably, although I admit to not having statistical information, more accidents caused by riding lawn mowers than with guns in the home.

SPQR(laissez Faire)

June 28th, 2010
9:33 pm

josef, True…

Ernst Röhm also.. I am for lifting DADT..just like the imagery of Indian Jones and the slippers of doom.

almost forgot… TO HELL with Hugo lula jong il obama and his smartass sidekick, bite me

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:34 pm

josef,

Oh hell I don’t know, just late in the thread and had to post something. I was pretty sure you wouldn’t get P.O.’d over it.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
9:35 pm

Have you read “Born Fighting” by Senator James Webb ?

It’s on the book shelf behind me. Read it on your recommendation, actually, and enjoyed it immensely.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:36 pm

Scout

That Webb book is an a33 kicker, ain’t it? Don’t always agree with him (DADT) but insofar as knowing who he is and where he came from, oh, yeah! And a burr under the saddle of his fellow Democrats…

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
9:37 pm

In less than a week, 10 people have been killed and more than 60 others wounded by gunfire in Chicago–despite the city’s decades-old gun ban.

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:38 pm

Hillbilly Deluxe,

Don’t always agree with what Webb says and does but he was one helluva Marine in the Nam.

David Scott (D) Ga 13th District ----

June 28th, 2010
9:38 pm

Please support Alvin Greene for Senate in South Carolina.

Move The Progressive Agenda Forward By Any Means Necessary.

Anybody who disagrees is stupid or rebellious.

Flip the Internet Kill Switch…..

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:41 pm

laissez

oops! My jerking knee got in the way…I had forgotten your ourspoken opposition to DADT…my apologies…and Roehm? Well, yeah, him too. Gotta take the bad with the good…as I say, equality? Ain’t it grand…

Del..
Me? Get p’od? Now when have I ever done that? :-)

Scout

June 28th, 2010
9:42 pm

Hillbilly, Del & josef (now there’s a threesome !)

Yep …………… Webb is a “wood’s colt” ……………… :o

Laird Bean

June 28th, 2010
9:42 pm

The position of the four dissenting judges in this ruling, as well as the position of the Left is abjectly silly as well as being wrong! Anyone who can read and understand plain English can see that the simple words of the 2nd. Amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantee the right to keep and bear arms to “the people”. Not the National Guard, not the Army, not the police, or any other extension of the government, but to “the people”!! Can it really be any more simple than that??

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
9:44 pm

Scout

What is your definition of “wood’s colt”? Just curious.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:44 pm

SCOUT

“I guess Jay just did this thread this morning and went home mad.”

Nyanh…he works on his dead tree column on Mondays and given recent events, he’s no doubt twirling…

popeye

June 28th, 2010
9:45 pm

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:22 pm
josef,

Are you becoming a conservative? Welcome to the right side.

Del….Josef has always been a right winger. He proclaims his liberal mindset but that only
applies when the Repeal of DADT is on the docket or any other gay issue.

Otherwise he is totally a republiconned!

Hootinanny Yum Yum

June 28th, 2010
9:46 pm

TaxPayer states, “If you intentionally kill another, you have committed murder in God’s eyes. You spin that any way you want. You pull that trigger on a gun with it aimed at another human and that human dies as a result of your action, then you committed murder. Take that up with God if you like.”

So, if in the act of protecting my property, my family or myself I kill another I have committed murder in God’s eyes. In essence a sin. Whether it be Old Testament or New Testament. Sin is sin.

Best I understand it, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yeah, I’ll have to look the Big Guy in the eye one day, but I think I’ll be okay on this one.

Wow, God and Guns on the same blog. CT would be moderating the pi$$ out of this.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:47 pm

Hillbilly
You didn’t grow up using “wood’s colt?” Think about it. It’s a colt who’s daddy came from the woods…doesn’t have the “right papers…”

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:49 pm

I think Webb was a company commander in the Que Son valley during operation Union One or Two 1967.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
9:51 pm

Josef

I always heard it used to refer to an illegitimate child. That’s why I asked.

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:51 pm

popeye,

I don’t think josef votes Republican but I can always be wrong.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:53 pm

popeye

You wish! I’m for free universal health care, I’m for decolonization and a dismantling of the imperialist regimes, I’m for restitution for slavery, I’m decidedly for separation of church and state up to and including the inaguguration of our secular president, I’m against the class antipathies of those who categorize by race, creed, color, national origin and housing, I’m for regularization of the status of the so-called “illegals…” need I continue?

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:54 pm

DEl

If I ever voted for the Party of Diocletian of the Potomac my Granny would rise from the grave and smite me! Really… :-)

Steve

June 28th, 2010
9:54 pm

Democrat Mayor Dayley says he will continue to obstruct the expressed decison of the court by passing laws around gun ownership…sort of like Jim Crow laws that did not actually prevent voting, just made it impossibly hard.
Bet Jay and the liberals will support Daley all the way

Del

June 28th, 2010
9:55 pm

popeye,

oh the pain in my heart…josef@9:53pm is indeed a liberal.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
9:59 pm

DEL/SCOUT

Smite? She’d use “harag!” :-)

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:00 pm

Hillbilly & josef:

I thought it had to do with a horse that couldn’t be tamed ?

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
10:00 pm

Haven’t read Webb’s book, but was very interested in his candidacy.

There is more times than not, not very much to cheer about in politics.

But watching Webb beat that repulsive George “Macaca” Allen in Virginia was pretty righteous…

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:01 pm

Headline: “International Space Station sex ban”

“Commanders do not allow sexual intercourse on the International Space Station, it has been disclosed.”

Well, there you go ……….. no “100 mile” clubs !

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:01 pm

Scout,

Now you attack me by claiming that I have serious issues even after your little retort yesterday. A matter that you still refuse to deal with even though I have asked you to do so several times now. Go back, Scout, and review the exchange between NIF and myself yesterday and tell me what I said that concerns you in that exchange. Then again, perhaps you simply need to “lighten” up. Isn’t that how you put it to me yesterday, Scout.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:02 pm

Smite thee hip & thigh !

Del

June 28th, 2010
10:03 pm

Smite them down, smite and smite, now I’m afraid to turn in for the evening for fear I’ll be smited.

Del

June 28th, 2010
10:05 pm

Can anyone imagine getting it on in zero gravity.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:07 pm

Scout

Sex is space and weightlessness and all that…I really do think that’s deserving of some serious scientific inquiry if we’re planning on colonizing out there…

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:07 pm

Del

Well, it would lend a whole new meaning to light in the loafers… :-)

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:08 pm

So, if in the act of protecting my property, my family or myself I kill another I have committed murder in God’s eyes. In essence a sin. Whether it be Old Testament or New Testament. Sin is sin.

If you intentionally kill another, it is murder. That’s what “Thou Shalt Not Kill” means (substitute “murder” for “kill” if needed for clarity).

Del

June 28th, 2010
10:09 pm

popeye

June 28th, 2010
10:09 pm

OK Josef nice talkin’ points. Then why do you refer to Barbara Boxer as a cow, when she is one senator out of 50 some who supports totally all those aforementioned policies…especially the repeal of DADT.
Would you rather Carly Fiorina replace her?

Why do you refer to Obama as I’m a gonna? When he declares his support for your pet projects, but all the right wingers pitch hissy fits, and a few demos (Ben Nelson) etal shoot him down.

You can only hide so much, but the more you blog the more you reveal!

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:10 pm

AmVet

Read Webb…a curmudgeon’s curmudgeon!

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:11 pm

TaxPayer:

I think we should just ignore each other. Oil & water.

Yawn ………………

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:11 pm

Well, I see “Lady Kaga” got grilled pretty good today but …………….

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
10:12 pm

I thought it had to do with a horse that couldn’t be tamed ?

That’s not what it meant in my area but I don’t know about other places. Maybe it has different meanings in different places?

Del

June 28th, 2010
10:14 pm

Taxpayer,

Sorry, but when you’re protecting yourself or your family it’s not intentional murder or killing in the Lords eyes.. When you’re tying to quote from God’s word you really need to read it all and not take snippets.

Hillbilly Deluxe

June 28th, 2010
10:15 pm

On Born Fighting

Been a while since I read it but as I remember, there wasn’t much political stuff in it. Or not as it applies to current politics. Is that y’all’s impression or is my memory fuzzy?

Another book I’d recommend that has very little political stuff in it is “One Soldier’s Story” by Bob Dole. I was never a big supporter of his but he’s one remarkable man.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:15 pm

popeye

Boxer? The manners of a yard dog. Correcting a military man for using ma’am…oy!

Why do I call him Ima Gonna…? Because so far that’s all I’ve seen or heard from the “fierce advocate” And. like so many others, you seem to miss when I come out swinging on his behalf…

The more I “reveal?” I have no “secrets.” Unlike you, I yam what I yam…

You, evidently, have some personal issues with me, but that’s fine by me…I’m not out to impress you or anyone else…

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
10:16 pm

josef, for me, that race, more than any other single race, epitomized the gigantic problem with the tough talking, but never-served, swift-boating neo-cons and chickenhawks.

And I think it explains why they lost a jaw-dropping 93% of the contested seats in national races in back to back elections. Including the reverse Joe DiMaggio-like zero for 36 in 2006. A record that will likely never be touched.

But how in the world that slimy, gutless POS Suxbee Chambless ever got re-elected, I’ll never know …

Alvin Greene for Senate in SC

June 28th, 2010
10:17 pm

Cynthia Tucker is on vacation in Florida and Jay has accumulated our bogging dbags.

Jay — Does this gun decision mean this is racism?

Del

June 28th, 2010
10:20 pm

Well now it sounds like this thread may be fixin to become nasty, so I’ll just say it’s Taps. Y’all have a great evening and fight fare.

popeye

June 28th, 2010
10:23 pm

Josef, You are not important enough for me to have personal issues with you!

I could care less what you think, or who you are.

I do know you spend 24/7 blogging by going through previous blogs.

Sorry for you life is such a beach!

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:24 pm

Sorry, but when you’re protecting yourself or your family it’s not intentional murder or killing in the Lords eyes.. When you’re tying to quote from God’s word you really need to read it all and not take snippets.

There are only two types of killing in God’s eyes, intentional or accidental. If you want to call it an “Oops, my finger slipped, go for it.”

As for you, Scout, if you do not want to deal with the matter that you brought up yesterday, fine, I understand. I tried.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:25 pm

Anyone seen Al Gore lately ?

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:27 pm

I see AmVet has invoked the name of Saxby Chambliss. Now I know why Del said things were gonna get nasty. When you bring up such scum of the earth as Saxby, it can’t be sugar-coated.

AmVet

June 28th, 2010
10:31 pm

“When you bring up such scum of the earth as Saxby, it can’t be sugar-coated.”

TaxPayer, this why I love my fellow non-Republicans.

Witty, interesting and deft with a double-entendre.

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
10:33 pm

#1 – Constitutional Amendment requiring Term Limits for all members of Congress

#2 – Constitutional Amendment requiring a Balanced Federal Budget every year, no excuses.

#3 – Seal the US borders in the next 6 months. Those who are here can stay if they agree to the border closure in terms.

#4 – Repeal the 16th Amendment (Income Tax) and replace it with a Flat Tax or Fair Tax, a National Lottery and massive consumption taxes on alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.

#5 – Congress must repeal The War Powers Act. This law allows the POTUS to start wars without an official declaration by Congress. Congress granted it and they can take it back. Get it done.

#6 — 15% Across Every Board, Spending Cuts, Starting Next Congressional Term. ALL OF IT !

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:34 pm

AmVet

Read some of his fiction…talk about a wood’s colt!

popeye…

24/7? Not really…depends on the day, what’s on the other screen for work, whether or not school is in session and whatever else I have on my plate…

I don’t go through other blogs…this one is it and only when I’m here, don’t bother going back to read over those I wasn’t present for unless somebody asks me to…

Life a beach? I’m a happy person…I am blessed to be able to do pretty much what I want to when I want to…

Me? Important? G-d, I hope not. I’d hate to think anybody took me seriously, since I don’t take myself so…try it, though, it’s really quite liberating…

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
10:36 pm

I know you regulars hate FACTS but I plan to continue.

Your whimpy arguments are on……

Nada Mas.

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:38 pm

Not My Real Name,

Do you have any proof of that.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:38 pm

DEl

That’s right, come in here, stir up a stink and then disappear…you trying to take over the Bruin’s job…? G’night anyway… :-)

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:42 pm

I once tried some margarine that said it tasted like butter but it did not. In short, butter or even “tastes like butter” was not its real name. “Salt” would have been more descriptive.

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
10:48 pm

Jay — Please don’t let anybody at the AJC change our blogs and they way they work..

Our speech is still open and unrestricted in this blog……….

Don’t change anything.

Get more legitimate and active Blog Hosts…….

TaxPayer

June 28th, 2010
10:51 pm

By the way, TaxPayer is Not My Real Name. Tis true. With that, I say good night.

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
10:52 pm

Real Name

He’s about to top 600, that tells you something about how he does things…I hope his handler’s are paying attention. He’s a valuable asset.

Scout

June 28th, 2010
10:55 pm

Boys, here’s a good one to sign off with from an old brakeman on the Nikel Plate Railroad (1966) !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrj5Kxdzouc&feature=related

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
10:56 pm

AJC blogging is excellent.

Please don’t change the blogs.

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
11:04 pm

Haters, Haters, Haters….

Nobody wants to dispute my platform.

Does anybody in the ATL have a brain?

Not My Real Name

June 28th, 2010
11:07 pm

Bring it or go to beddy bye……

josef nix

June 28th, 2010
11:09 pm

Okay, Bruin, you’re over 600. I even pay attention to the ads. Tell your handlers. I’ve done my part, so, punching my time card and outta here…enjoyed…

Joe

June 29th, 2010
1:14 am

“2nd ammendment reads:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

How is this unclear?”

What is ‘arms’? That is what is unclear. Why can we own certain weapons and not others? If you want to follow it strictly, we should just be allowed to own muzzle loaders.

Dave

June 29th, 2010
1:25 am

Other rights that the High Court has deemed appropriate for incorporation, through the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, require judges to make judgment calls on a regular basis. The fact that judges will be required to fulfill their role in protecting the right is neither evidence nor argument that the right does not exist. Legislatures pass laws restricting freedom of speech in ways that are permitted by the Constitution. As a journalist you know (or should know) full well that time, place, and manner restrictions have been upheld. Obsenity is not protected speech. Political speech is limited through rules governing campaign advertising and funding. Obviously, courts play a role in determining when State Legislatures and City Councils have gone to far. It will be no different here. The “exclusionary rule” is certainly responsible for the filing of countless search and seizure motions in criminal proceedings. The exclusionary rule is not even a constitutional requirement. It is a judicially created rule implemented to provide teeth to the Constitutional right. This judicially created rule was crafted, resulted in tremedous litigation backlogs, and has been incorporated into the 14th amendment and applied to the States. Somehow judges are fully capable of protecting this right, but incapable of determining when and how to protect a fundamental right specifically set forth in the Constitution? I’m not buying your brand.

Dave

June 29th, 2010
1:39 am

I read my last comment and realized that it was a bit of a rant. I am sorry. My point is that Heller confirmed the existence of a right enumerated in the Constitution. This case simply mandates application of that right against the States. It limits the power of both the State and Federal government to infringe on the people’s right to keep and bare arms. It does not provide judges with more power than they had yesterday. It has provided them with less. It has not taken power from the States. It has returned to the people a power, right, and choice that had previously been denied to them. Everyone in Chicago is more free today than they were yesterday, because they have a choice available today that was unlawful yesterday.

Judges are fully capable of reviewing State, local, and Federal laws to determine whether they unlawfully violate the Constitution. This same exercise has taken place time and time again. Judges review searches to determine whether they violate the 4th Amendment. Judges review State laws regarding the death penalty to determine whether they conform to Constitutional limitations. Judges review abortion laws to determine whether State regulations are permissible or extend too far and abrogate the “right to privacy.” No Constitutional rights are absolute. All are tempered and measured by judicial decisions. Jay Bookman’s argument to the contrary demonstrates the desparation of his position and probably shows that he did not read the portions of Alito’s and Scalia’s opinions addressing these very points.

chuck

June 29th, 2010
2:02 am

So Jay, would it be “activism” if the court had struck down a state law that was in violation of the 14th amendment? Just so you know, activism is when the court creates a right that ISN’T in the Constitution like Roe v.Wade….NOT when they confirm a right that IS in the constitution.

I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...

June 29th, 2010
4:36 am

“In our view, it is way too early to apply the fiscal brakes,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities. Cutting off unemployment benefits “is a dangerous way to cut deficits when the economy is still fragile.” -Urinal

Show of hands if you’ve ever heard of “Nomura Industries,” just sayin…

obozo and the libs, they ask our enemies for economic advice.

I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...

June 29th, 2010
4:43 am

It rains every day in the Atl and the reservoirs are brimming with water-

My Opinion
Listen to candidates on drought
Georgia’s ongoing water crisis defies an easy solution, or even an easy explanation. -kookman, Urinal

Yes, let’s kneecap our politicians with pointless exercises, just a suggestion…

We wouldn’t want them to create jobs, stop the oil leak, improve the economy or anything like that.

USinUK

June 29th, 2010
6:13 am

oh, all right … since whiner is too lazy to use teh google …

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/nomura-holdings/

“We wouldn’t want them to create jobs, stop the oil leak, improve the economy or anything like that.”

but … but … but … I thought the gummint didn’t “create jobs” … and I thought the market was the solution to EVERYthing! .

USinUK

June 29th, 2010
6:28 am

btw … for all you applauding the Supreme’s decision … it seems to me that, if they can trample over states’ rights to implement gun controls, they can also trample over states’ rights to limit women’s access to abortion …

… just a thought for ya …

[...] can’t rely on the Second Amendment; you have to hope for judicial activism… like that exercised by the Court’s slim conservative majority Monday. About Cory Allen Heidelberger: Cory Allen Heidelberger writes, paints, bikes, and dreams [...]

Eli Jones

June 29th, 2010
8:55 am

“THIS IS WHO ELANA KAGAN IS” (OBAMA’S SUPREME COURT PICK)

She is a radical judicial activist, who agrees with former Justice Thurgood Marshall that the Constitution given to us by the Framers was “defective” and that it contained “outdated notions of liberty, justice and equality.”
Her “judicial hero” is former Israeli justice Aharon Barak, who said a judge “may give a statute a new meaning…[t]he statute remains as it was, but its meaning changes, because the court has given it a new meaning that suits new social needs.”
She is anti-military and pro-homosexual. While dean of the Harvard Law School, she kicked military recruiters off campus, in defiance of a federal law which had been upheld by the Supreme Court on a unanimous vote. She said she “abhorred” the military’s ban on open homosexual service, and called it a “moral injustice of the first order.”
She believes in the supremacy of international law over the Constitution. While dean at Harvard Law, she dropped the required course in the Constitution and replaced it with a required course on international law.
She is pro-abortion and anti-life. She has contributed financially to pro-abortion groups, and believes that abortions should be taxpayer funded.
She believes that the government may ban political pamphlets and books during an election season, in violation of the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
She is anti-Second Amendment. She is “not sympathetic” to the claim that individuals have the right to keep and bear arms under the Constitution.
She is pro-Muslim. At the same time she kicked military recruiters off campus, she allowed Saudi Arabia to recruit lawyers for work on Shariah-Compliant Finance.
She is anti-capitalist and pro-socialist, once writing glowingly of “socialism’s greatness.”
Former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork said that if Kagan is confirmed “you will have a court that is much more to the left than we have today.”

Eli Jones

June 29th, 2010
8:57 am

President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor.

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which is being pushed hard by Senator Joe Lieberman, would hand absolute power to the federal government to close down networks, and block incoming Internet traffic from certain countries under a declared national emergency.

Despite the Center for Democracy and Technology and 23 other privacy and technology organizations sending letters to Lieberman and other backers of the bill expressing concerns that the legislation could be used to stifle free speech, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee passed in the bill in advance of a vote on the Senate floor.

In response to widespread criticism of the bill, language was added that would force the government to seek congressional approval to extend emergency measures beyond 120 days. Still, this would hand Obama the authority to shut down the Internet on a whim without Congressional oversight or approval for a period of no less than four months.

The Senators pushing the bill rejected the claim that the bill was a ‘kill switch’ for the Internet, not by denying that Obama would be given the authority to shut down the Internet as part of this legislation, but by arguing that he already had the power to do so.

They argued “That the President already had authority under the Communications Act to “cause the closing of any facility or station for wire communication” when there is a “state or threat of war”, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Fears that the legislation is aimed at bringing the Internet under the regulatory power of the U.S. government in an offensive against free speech were heightened further on Sunday, when Lieberman revealed that the plan was to mimic China’s policies of policing the web with censorship and coercion.

“Right now China, the government, can disconnect parts of its Internet in case of war and we need to have that here too,” Lieberman told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet.

As we have illustrated, fears surrounding cybersecurity have been hyped to mask the real agenda behind the bill, which is to strangle the runaway growth of alternative and independent media outlets which are exposing government atrocities, cover-ups and cronyism like never before.

Indeed, China uses similar rhetoric about the need to maintain “security” and combating cyber warfare by regulating the web, when in reality their entire program is focused around silencing anyone who criticizes the state.

The real agenda behind government control of the Internet has always been to strangle and suffocate independent media outlets who are now competing with and even displacing establishment press organs, with websites like the Drudge Report now attracting more traffic than many large newspapers combined. As part of this war against independent media, the FTC recently proposing a “Drudge Tax” that would force independent media organizations to pay fees that would be used to fund mainstream newspapers.

Scout

June 29th, 2010
9:04 am

USinUK:

You are correct ! That’s why we have the Bill of Rights that not even the States can trample on !

Dave

June 29th, 2010
4:27 pm

USinUK

Quick protocol. The Federal Government has been trampling States’ rights for 200 years. The bottom line is that you either believe the Bill of Rights applies to the States or you don’t. The selective incorporation doctrine is probably the most ridiculous modern legal contrivance. It was merely invented to leave open controversial questions. There is no defensible justification for incorporating some rights and not others. If you think that each state is permitted to establish its own religion free from Federal restraint, then you should be upset with this decision. If you believe that the State is not permitted to prescribe a state sponsored religion, place prior restraint on speech, or unreasonably search its citizens without probable cause, then you should be happy with the way this case turned out.

Mike

June 30th, 2010
10:22 am

The exceptions to the first amendment have been spelled out, no shouting “fire” in a crowded theater, etc. What I can’t determine is the rational here for the allowance of regulations on who can own a weapon. While restricting felons and mentally ill people from owning weapons seems reasonable, where does the 2nd amendment mention that? Where does it mention what type of weapons a person may own? It does mention a “well regulated militia”. If you use strict logic, it explicitly states that the right to keep and bear arms will not be infringed. It doesn’t mention what types of arms or who can own them, just that said ownership will not be infringed. It doesn’t say you need to be a citizen, adult, sane, or anything else. If you completely divorce the militia preamble from the statement, this right has none of the commonsense restrictions that the justices have said exist. The right to bear arms is absolute and no restrictions, reasonable or not, exist. Everyone has the right to own nuclear weapons and planet destroying weapons (when they are invented). If we are talking about the intent of the Founding Fathers, I suspect if you showed the effectiveness of a 9mm Beretta to a Founding Father, he would be extremely unlikely to accept the current language of the 2nd amendment to mean gun ownership is a constitutional right with no restriction.

Dave

June 30th, 2010
11:16 am

@ Mike

Your concerns regarding the Bill of Rights prescription of an absolute right to gun ownership is no different from the language governing religious freedom. For example, the Constitution says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

However, we do prohibit the free exercise of religions that call for drug use, human sacrifice, or even animal sacrifice in a manner inconsistent with health codes. There is no Constitutional justification for permitting the government to prohibit people from freely engaging in their religion. However, the Courts have determined that neutral regulations (i.e., not directed solely toward a particular religious group or groups) of general applicablity that happen to infringe upon religious liberty do not violate the Constitution.

This is the world in which we live. The Court has always used common sense to fill in the gaps left by the Constitution. In the same way that you say a Founding Father would be unlikely to accept the current language of the 2nd Amendment, if faced with todays weapons, many people argue that freedom of speech, religion, and search and siezure provisions would be quite different when faced with a world where (i) “religion” is not defacto code for forms of Protestant Christianity, (ii) people argue that child pornography is a form of speech, and (iii) the exclusionary rule allows guilty people, faced with a mountain of evidence in support of their guilt, to walk free from our justice system.

The effect of this ruling is important, but far from monumental from the perspective of Constitutional history.

Mike

June 30th, 2010
11:51 am

@Dave

Thanks for the civil and thoughtful response. I agree with the points you have made about religion. Mostly, it seems that the restrictions applied upon religion are designed to prevent someone from committing a crime by saying it is required by their religion. I guess the point that I was trying to make is that the court in this case seems to be making things up as they go along to suit their goal. If you can ban machine guns why not hand guns? Politics and not law seems to be the main deciding factor in their decision. With this much apparent leeway allowed in interpreting our rights, likely any interpretation of the 2nd amendment could be considered correct (like ownership of planet destroying weapons for all or only the military can have weapons period).

Republican

July 2nd, 2010
4:13 am

[...] up defining their term. …Gun rights, campaign spending top high court termThe Associated PressLatest gun ruling a case of conservative judicial activismAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Conservative media figures falsely accuse Sotomayor of testifying [...]