WE WIN! SCOTUS 2nd AMENDMENT DECISION…With Updates & Videos
I only hope we grasp the seriousness of how close we came, and why we came that close. Vote McCain, if for any other reason than Supreme Court appointments.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.
The court’s 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.
The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment 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.”
10:15 A.M. PST Update: McCain, Hussein, & DC Mayor’s Reactions to the ruling.
9:15 A.M. PST Update: Here is the reaction by NRA CEO & Executive VP, Wayne LaPierre.
Read the full 157 page Supreme Court decision here.
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.
In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.”
He said such evidence “is nowhere to be found.”
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a separate dissent in which he said, “In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.”
Joining Scalia were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. The other dissenters were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter.
The capital’s gun law was among the nation’s strictest.
Dick Anthony Heller, 66, an armed security guard, sued the District after it rejected his application to keep a handgun at his home for protection in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood as the court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Heller’s favor and struck down Washington’s handgun ban, saying the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns and that a total prohibition on handguns is not compatible with that right.
The issue caused a split within the Bush administration. Vice President Dick Cheney supported the appeals court ruling, but others in the administration feared it could lead to the undoing of other gun regulations, including a federal law restricting sales of machine guns. Other laws keep felons from buying guns and provide for an instant background check.
Scalia said nothing in Thursday’s ruling should “cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”
The law adopted by Washington’s city council in 1976 bars residents from owning handguns unless they had one before the law took effect. Shotguns and rifles may be kept in homes, if they are registered, kept unloaded and either disassembled or equipped with trigger locks.
Opponents of the law have said it prevents residents from defending themselves. The Washington government says no one would be prosecuted for a gun law violation in cases of self-defense.
(Fox)
***
We have won, more details coming. 2nd Amendments is for INDIVIDUALS! Scalia wrote opinion. It was a 5-4 decision, underscoring the importance of this election and SCOTUS appointments.
Initial, breaking news…
Fox News Update, Details on the decision and Scalia’s opinion…
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Greatest news ever! this will shut them up now that the supreme court has finally interpreted the 2nd amendment. i was already going out to buy a new 9mm today so ill consider it my celebration
June 26th, 2008 at 6:26 amAs much as I hate the 5-4 ruling, it’s one HELL of a lot better than a 4-5 defeat. WTF is wrong with the 4?
June 26th, 2008 at 6:30 amSo let it be written … So let it be done!
Amen!
June 26th, 2008 at 6:32 amBring it on Marxist lib bastards, your day is coming!
June 26th, 2008 at 6:34 amThank God for GWB’s appoints, Roberts and Alito!
June 26th, 2008 at 6:36 am….Is it okay if us folks in the Peoples Republic of California have our own little uprising
…was kinda looking forward to it… 
June 26th, 2008 at 6:36 amNow maybe we can lay this collective rights (communist bullshit) to bed. I’d like to see the rest of the stupid anti rights laws in other major metropolitan areas struck down now. Though I doubt we’ll see the NFA and the registry go away anytime soon.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:38 am5 - 4
So it came down to one man to preserve our freedoms.
If you were thinking of staying home Nov 4th, please think again.
We were almost disarmed.
This will have been noted.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:38 amGreat news. Now as long as Obummer doesn’t get elected and load the SC with leftist judges, and think of another lame reason to take our guns.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:41 amNow we can cling to our guns legally.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:42 amI thought we already has that right. Or was this just to update the left.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:43 amWell I guess the next step will be if hand guns have to be muzzle-loaded or if my SIG is constitutional.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:45 amAmen
June 26th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Hell yeah! Fuck you liberal gun grabbers! America will be well armed and ready for action!
June 26th, 2008 at 6:47 amYes, but we have a long way to go. Need to regain control of the house and senate. Reverse coattails this election is needed.
Even with McCain as President he still needs to have these assholes approve of his choice:
Patrick J. Leahy
June 26th, 2008 at 6:48 am> Chairman
?? (try again)
Even with McCain as President he still needs to have these assholes approve of his choice:
Patrick J. Leahy
June 26th, 2008 at 6:50 amChairman
Edward M. Kennedy
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Herb Kohl
Dianne Feinstein
Russell D. Feingold
Charles E. Schumer
Richard J. Durbin
Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a separate dissent in which he said, “In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime-ridden urban areas.”
This silly ass really wanted to say, “… there is no untouchable constitutional right.”
June 26th, 2008 at 6:54 amMcCain will never appoint a Roberts or Alito. He’ll cave to the libtards and appoint another O’Connor who will royally screw things up. Which one of the 5 who voted properly this time screwed up on the “rights for terrorists” vote? I missed that one. Kennedy and Ginsburg and Souter need to retire at minimum to get some originalists on the court. If Bambi get’s elected, the country will be damaged beyond repair for decades and you won’t see a Republican president for a long time. The democRats will be positioned to do whatever they want to shut down dissent and bring us the the fascist nanny-state that they have been drooling over for the past 7 decades.
Gun ownership is creeping closer to a reality for me. Lock and load, my brothers. The revolution is near.
June 26th, 2008 at 6:59 amFUNKIN´A RIGHT!!!
I´m on my way for the first time ON PURPOSE to the Daily KOS to laugh my ass off at what has GOT to be the leftards chicken bone in the throat!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:02 amWe need to concentrate on replacing the 4 stooges that don’t understand the Constitution. If McCain has Thompson advising on the judge appointments we may survive another 25 years.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:04 am“…Justice Stephen Breyer …. really wanted to say, “… there is no untouchable constitutional right.””
Breyer says exactly that in interview after interview. He’s the most vocal advocate of judicial activism and a ‘living Constitution’ in the country. All our lib judges are trying to emulate Breyer.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:05 amThank God!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:06 amOne vote away from Marxism …
June 26th, 2008 at 7:10 amIt will be interesting to watch the crime level drop in DC. When it does, not if, we should all have a big smile on our faces. The criminals in DC are no longer going to have a free pass, now they will need to deal with returning fire. It is a GREAT day for the citizens in DC.
It is a GREAT day for all law abiding citizens of the US as we finally have an undisputable right (and court president)as an individual to defend ourselves.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:10 amYou be very careful playing with those Kos Kids …
Your tetanus shot updated?
June 26th, 2008 at 7:12 amMan, what a good feeling reading this! Feels like an early 4th of July!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:15 amw00t!
I’ve never fired a gun in my life, but this is still some of the greatest news I’ve ever heard!!
June 26th, 2008 at 7:24 amCommon Sense Prevailed! This does not always happen. Below are the Quotes of the Majority Judges about this ruling:
Quotes from the opinion:
“Logic demands that there be a link between the stated purpose and the command.”
“We start therefore with a strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans.”
“the most natural reading of ‘keep Arms’ in the Second Amendment is to “have weapons.”
“The term was applied, then as now, to weapons that were not specifically designed for military use and were not employed in a military capacity.”
“Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.”
“Thus, we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose.”
“The prefatory clause does not suggest that preserving the militia was the only reason Americans valued the ancient right; most undoubtedly thought it even more important for self-defense and hunting.”
“It was plainly the understanding in the post-Civil War Congress that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to use arms for self-defense.”
“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.”
“Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or 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.”
“We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those ‘in common use at the time.’ 307 U. S., at 179.”
“Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid.”
“In sum, we hold that the District’s ban on handgun possession in the home violates the Second Amendment, as does its prohibition against rendering any lawful firearm in the home operable for the purpose of immediate self-defense. Assuming that Heller is not disqualified from the exercise of Second Amendment rights, the District must permit him to register his handgun and must issue him a license to carry it in the home.”
On the question of the Second Amendment’s application to the States: “23 With respect to Cruikshank’s continuing validity on incorporation, a question not presented by this case, we note that Cruikshank also said that the First Amendment did not apply against the States and did not engage in the sort of Fourteenth Amendment inquiry required by our later cases. Our later decisions in Presser v. Illinois, 116 U. S. 252, 265 (1886) and Miller v. Texas, 153 U. S. 535, 538 (1894), reaffirmed that the Second Amendment applies only to the Federal Government.”
June 26th, 2008 at 7:26 amWell at least this indicates we’ll still have the means to shoot child rapists dead, on sight.
McCain takes opportunity to praise decision and criticize Obama and the Chicago Machine:
June 26th, 2008 at 7:31 amhttp://cbs2chicago.com/politics/mccain.handgun.ban.2.757688.html
Great news
June 26th, 2008 at 7:33 amVery nice. That 5-4 scares me though.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:41 amMy thoughts EXACTLY, although, I would probably just hold the rapist at gun point until I can start the incinerator up to throw him into.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:41 amIt doesn’t make me feel muchbetter that basically 4 out of 4 SCOTUS basically endorsed treason, by voting against an inherent and protected right. It’s not as if there is room to argue the intentions of the founding fathers. Washington, Jefferson, Madison etc were all very clear that they beleived citiznes MUST be able to posess fire arms in order to protect the country from an out of control tyranny…….
Basically 4 out of 5 judges ignored every piece of literature and discussion of the founding fathers, the actual wording in the constitution and in the name of liberalism voted against our most basic right to protect our life and limb……….I think they know the sort of violence that a negative ruling would have inspired….but 4 out of 5 still ruled in favor of tyranny, and to usurp teh Constitution of the United States…..that does NOT make me feel much better….
June 26th, 2008 at 7:46 amI meant to say 4 out of 9…….Sorry I was too ruffled.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:46 amAlito is an absolute steadfast hero
June 26th, 2008 at 7:53 am
just posting: I agree..it should’ve been 9-0 
June 26th, 2008 at 7:54 amWe dodged a bullet…and we can thank the 2 latest appointments to the SC or we’d be fucked.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:08 amI can hear the collective WHEEEEW from where I am sitting.
Some sanity in the Supreme Court! About time. Obviously some insanity in the dissenting opininon but that is always expected when you have Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a justice.
Cheers to freedom and liberty!!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:12 amSCALIA IS MY HERO!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 8:13 amA 5-4 victory beats the hell out of a 4-5 defeat, and also delays the inevitable collapse of this country’s judicial system. Heineous crimes will have solutions rendered before the courts set them free. Right to carry will become once again the norm, and those who choose not to arm themselves will always seek a ‘Will Kane’ hero to defend them. History repeating itself. A hero dies but one death, but a coward dies a thousand times. Taking back the streets may be bloody and confusing at times but the populace will have justice. Movements afoot to have the National Guard patrolling our streets and our borders are only suggested because we as a society are too weak, or cowardly to defend our values. Any value not worth dying for, is only as good as the people willing to do the hard work. The dissenting Justice must have realized that there was going to be a whole lot more of previous law-abiding citizens breaking the law, than surrendering the concept of the 2nd Admendments right to bear arms. I won’t yet dig up my reserve weapons until the threat is totally eliminated and that means the appointment of strict Constitutional judges being advanced. Chances are slim that Barry would do so, the only hope this time is that McCain is elected along with a return of the Republican majority in both houses of Congress. The truth will set you free, and a weapon of choice will confirm that freedom. Vote for freedom, not capitulation, vote Republican
June 26th, 2008 at 8:14 amand the lord said, let there be guns
June 26th, 2008 at 8:18 amand there were guns.
And Saint Attila raised the gun up on high, saying, ‘O Lord, bless this Thy Colt .45 that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies skulls to tiny bits in Thy mercy. And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu–
also
June 26th, 2008 at 8:23 amGood News, Now on to bigger a better things. (keeping Dumbo out of the Oval Office)
June 26th, 2008 at 8:27 amSee, this is why I’ll grab some noseplugs and vote for McCain. Just imagine who Obama would appoint to the court.
Ninth Circus, anyone?
June 26th, 2008 at 8:28 amToo close but was not predictable. I think most politicians realized they did not want an American Revolution on their hands during election year. I know that is giving the Dems too much credit.
Now we must defeat Hussein Obama and not allow a muslim to become president.
We must begin the process of opposing all internal muslim groups in the US, working toward disbanding them, exposing the ones who are still supporting the terrorists and exposing the ones preaching hatred and death to our country. We need to deport these people and not allow any madrasses to be built here.
We must bomb Iran before they can make a nuke.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:31 amOnly 5-4!!! That is terrible, only one vote shy of banning gun ownership…Better buy all the guns you can now because the next President is likely Obama and he will likely replace 2 retiring justices with liberal iodiots. Then another “test case” will almost certainly be sent up to ban guns nationwide.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:40 amI thought of Charlton Heston when the decision came down, I don’t know why. Good to see the pic! Bravo Allen Dura (the lawyer who argued the case). A great victory. Of course, the Bush Admin. was on the other side of the argument (filed briefs against).
June 26th, 2008 at 8:41 amThank God in Heaven.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:42 amI think I’ll go to the rifle range this weekend.
YE-HA….for this moment in time Justice has been SERVED! The battle has been won but the WAR is far from over.
With people as out of touch as Stevens and Breyer, We the People are going have our keeping our newly confirmed freedom and right.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:45 am*edit*
With people as out of touch as Stevens and Breyer, We the People are going have our hands full keeping our newly confirmed freedom and right.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:46 amJust got online and saw the news….BOOYAHHHH Bitches!!!
SCOTUS done good.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:48 amJustice Breyer is BRAIN DEAD!
Justice Ginsburg is an enemy of the people, former ACLU judge and BRAIN DEAD!
Justice Souter is a ma ma’s boy. Just a pathetic individual and astounding someone like him is on the SCOTUS. He is BRAIN DEAD!
Justice Stevens is to old and BRAIN DEAD!
This should not have been 5-4 but 7-2 or 8-1. How aboout 9-0.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:52 amMr. McCain, I hope that you are able to tell the difference between a Souter and a real conservative.
But we won! Yea baby.
I agree with everybody’s comment on the 5-4 vote.
Way too close but at least it’s some relief….for now….
June 26th, 2008 at 8:57 amHooo rah! Still a free country, however slightly.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:35 am[…] WIN! SCOTUS 2nd AMENDMENT DECISION…With Update Videos June 26, 2008 — budsimmons http://patdollard.com/2008/06/breaking-we-win-scotus-2nd-amendment-decision/ Posted in Gun Laws, Gun ban, gun […]
June 26th, 2008 at 9:37 amAwsome.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:40 amEverybody celebrate by donating to the NRA!
June 26th, 2008 at 9:55 amGood. Now let’s strengthen the 1st, 4th and 5th. No?
June 26th, 2008 at 10:03 amSo I don’t need to make that long drive back East just yet. But it was very close and those of us that took the oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” must act if required. If you want to live in freedom you must be willing to risk all! We owe it to our forefathers, ourselves and our children and grandchildren. God bless America.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:08 amYES!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 10:36 amIf the day ever comes that the trip to DC is needed, let me know when your coming … we can carpool.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:49 amWhat the Supreme court giveth they can also take away.The purpose of the Supreme court is to rule on the constitutional interpretation of law ,but it has become the extension of the political parties and is therefore useless in constitutional interpretations and therefore should be abolished until nonpartisan judges can be appointed.Keep your bibles and guns close this is far from being over.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:11 amSlowly, steadily, we continue to push America back toward the center. Folks like us used to be the Silent Majority. Sites like this one have changed into the Vocal Majority. Mainstream Media (TV, Newspapers, Magazines) has tweaked the news for decades. They edit the copy to spin it j-u-s-t enough to make it mostly a bald faced lie.
I don’t watch CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN news any more. Period. They are staffed at higher levels with lyin’ sons of bitches with an agenda to foist on us.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:18 amDamn straight
June 26th, 2008 at 11:22 amIt seems that most here are happy with the ruling. The ruling didn’t go far enough as far as I’m concerned. The 2nd amendment states the right to keep & bear arms. To me the right to bear arms means the right to carry. From what I’ve read so far the SCOTUS didn’t give us that right, only the right to keep arms. I’m still not happy.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:03 pm5-4? If Barack Obama is elected and is able to appoint a judge, you can guarantee this will come back to the Supreme Court again, and it will not go our way next time.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:16 pmSTOCK UP
June 26th, 2008 at 1:20 pmBefore a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm—Noah Webster
I will honor SCOTUS by going to WAL-MART and buying 4 boxes of Winchester 9MM, $18.00 per box of 100 in WA.
I’ll bet Heston is kickin’ the crap out of the swimmer in the great beyond…..what?? that bugger ain’t dead yet - pity. But first
then 
June 26th, 2008 at 3:04 pmIt’s a shame Charlton Heston didn’t live to see this day.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:36 pmYou know, I thought about Charlton Heston today and also thought it’s a shame he didn’t live to see today.
Well, we won…… It’s a start…… It ain’t over and I’m not jumping up and down just yet, but today was a good day.
From my cold, dead hands bitch……
June 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pmDon’t worry, I’m not going to the range today.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:57 pmAmericans still have their guns.
Ted Kennedy still has brain cancer.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pmAmen to the above and:
Justice Kennedy :beer:, made up for the 2003 sodomy ruling.
Just when you’d think these four dissenters who didn’t want the gov’t to get involved with what goes on in American bedrooms, they reverse direction and would have you defenseless during an early morning home invasion.
Breyer 
Souter 
Ginsburg 
Stevens
June 26th, 2008 at 5:27 pmTO: Dan and the Werster quote. Glad to see you had that there;
June 26th, 2008 at 7:54 pmThe definition our founding fathers meant with the 2nd, Ulitmatly, for the people to protect themselves from very bad government, look at what they were fighting
(for survival) . . .