Hooray [5] for the Supreme Court!
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans can keep guns at home for self-defense, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in the justices' first-ever pronouncement on the meaning of gun rights under the Second Amendment.
The court's 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most federal firearms restrictions intact.
To make it even better, the court majority went so far as to directly affirm a write to own handguns! My, my. they must be having little hissy-fits over at Handgun Control, Inc..
THIS is the type of thing that makes judicial appointments important folks. Imagine the mischief the libs would start in our court system if Kennedy had got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and voted with the liberals instead. We would have had a 5-4, first time ever precedent on the Second Amendment that basically strikes it from the Constitution.
Scalia wrote the decision, and it caries his trademark common sense.
The basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an individual's right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia.
Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to
bear arms is supported by "the historical narrative" both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.
The Constitution does not permit "the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home," Scalia said. The court also struck down Washington's requirement that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns.
Scalia noted that the handgun is Americans' preferred weapon of self-defense in part because "it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police."
But liberals, take heart. The good Mayor of DC plans to implement a system of handgun registraton.
District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty responded with a plan to require residents of the nation's capital to register their handguns. "More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence," Fenty said.
"More handgun violence"?? Does this guy actually live in DC? Is he insane enough to think that this decision means more criminals will have handguns?? Incredible.
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More: Michelle Malkin [6] - SCOTUS Blog [7] - Red State [8] - Hot Air [9]
