In a racist ruling that primarily functioned as a way to disarm black residents while protecting white Southern paramilitary groups, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment applied only to the federal government. Chief Justice Morrison Waite wrote for the majority:
The most frequently-cited Second Amendment ruling in U.S. history has been United States v. Miller, a serious but challenging attempt to define the Second Amendment's right to bear arms on the basis of how well it serves the Second Amendment's well-regulated-militia rationale. As Justice James Clark McReynolds wrote for the majority:
In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court decidedfor the first time in U.S. historyto strike down a law on Second Amendment grounds. Justice Scalia wrote for the narrow majority:
The first salient feature of the operative clause is that it codifies a 'right of the people.' The unamended Constitution and the Bill of Rights use the phrase 'right of the people' two other times, in the First Amendments Assembly-and-Petition Clause and in the Fourth Amendments Search-and-Seizure Clause. The Ninth Amendment uses very similar terminology ('The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people'). All three of these instances unambiguously refer to individual rights, not 'collective' rights, or rights that may be exercised only through participation in some corporate body ...
We start therefore with a strong presumption that the Second Amendment right is exercised individually and belongs to all Americans.
The opinion the Court announces today fails to identify any new evidence supporting the view that the Amendment was intended to limit the power of Congress to regulate civilian uses of weapons. Unable to point to any such evidence, the Court stakes its holding on a strained and unpersuasive reading of the Amendments text; significantly different provisions in the 1689 English Bill of Rights, and in various 19th-century State Constitutions; postenactment commentary that was available to the Court when it decided Miller; and, ultimately, a feeble attempt to distinguish Miller that places more emphasis on the Courts decisional process than on the reasoning in the opinion itself ...
Until today, it has been understood that legislatures may regulate the civilian use and misuse of firearms so long as they do not interfere with the preservation of a well-regulated militia. The Courts announcement of a new constitutional right to own and use firearms for private purposes upsets that settled understanding, but leaves for future cases the formidable task of defining the scope of permissible regulations ...
The Court properly disclaims any interest in evaluating the wisdom of the specific policy choice challenged in this case, but it fails to pay heed to a far more important policy choicethe choice made by the Framers themselves. The Court 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, and to authorize this Court to use the common-law process of case-by-case judicial lawmaking to define the contours of acceptable gun control policy. Absent compelling evidence that is nowhere to be found in the Courts opinion, I could not possibly conclude that the Framers made such a choice.
See the original post:
Second Amendment and Gun Control Supreme Court Cases
- Assemblyman Tim Donnelly Introduces Sweeping Handgun Carry License Reform Bill AB 1563 - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Ex-Supreme Court justice pushes gun grab, 2nd Amendment rewrite - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Party of guns: 2016ers speak to NRA - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Michigan 2014 Second Amendment March - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Georgia Governor Signs Law Allowing Firearms In Public Places - Andrew Napolitano - Stuart Varney - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Tony DeTora's Second Amendment Commitment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Man Drug PSA - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Do you exercise your Second Amendment Rights while riding? - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Kira Davis - My 2nd Amendment Story - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Gabby Franco for NRA News: "Freedoms Are Not Untouchable" - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- SafeandVaultStore GS592820 Second Amendment Gun Safe - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Oathbreaking Tyrant: Justice John Paul Stevens Wants To Change The Second Amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Dear LiberalViewer: Second Amendment Response - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Justice John Paul Stevens Wants To Change The Second Amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- God & The Second Amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Amend The Second Amendment? - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Justice John Paul Stevens on the Second Amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- CCRW Televised Forum - Mental Health, Second Amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Obama lying supporting second amendment - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Rally Saturday - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Second Amendment and other t-shirts support the cause - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- 2nd Amendment - Laws - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Second Amendment - U.S. Constitution - FindLaw - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- Rep. Larry Pittman talks about Second Amendment - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- billkeyz talking about gun control the Second Amendment NRA - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- US Senate Candidates Iowa - Second Amendment - Video - April 27th, 2014 [April 27th, 2014]
- NRA leadership uses Bloomberg gun control push to rally members - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Open Carry Or Concealed Carry In California & Does The NRA Oppose - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Greg Brannon Nuke Second Amendment right - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- SafeandVaultStore GS724027 Second Amendment Gun Safe - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Supreme Court Gun Carry Rights; Drake v. Jerejian, Pending petition - Video - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Letter: NRA opposes reasonable responses - April 30th, 2014 [April 30th, 2014]
- Common sense calls for repeal of second amendment - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- GUNS: Amendment words to fight over - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Gun lobby group receives open government award - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- NFL Player Brags About Shooting a Skunk to NRA - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Disgruntled Motel Owner Uses Second Amendment To Fight Government Officials #ZHG - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Psychiatrists to push NWO gun control - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day 2014 - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day 2014 at the Pennsylvania Capitol - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Second Amendment Action Day Rally - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Pyro Planet Second Amendment & Star Spangled Blast - Video - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Gun rights: Times have changed since the creation of the Second Amendment - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Billy Johnson for NRA News: "Infringed Rights" - Video - May 3rd, 2014 [May 3rd, 2014]
- Second Amendment group marches in El Paso - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Part 1 of 2) - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- New Jersey Gun-Carrying Limit Left Intact by High Court - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Supreme Court Wasnt Serious about the Second Amendment - May 5th, 2014 [May 5th, 2014]
- Staying away from guns and Gitmo - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- US Supreme Court refuses to consider gun-rights case - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Success For Gun Owners & 2nd Amendment Defenders In 2014 - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Yen on Second Amendment - Video - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Second Amendment Shootout - Video - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Gun Depot USA Second amendment target shooting. - Video - May 6th, 2014 [May 6th, 2014]
- Second Amendment in real time boils down to politics - May 8th, 2014 [May 8th, 2014]
- Second Amendment - Laws - May 8th, 2014 [May 8th, 2014]
- Alan Gottlieb Supporting Compromise of your Second Amendment Rights - Video - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Lawmakers divided on bill that restricts EBT use - May 10th, 2014 [May 10th, 2014]
- Defenseless Nigerian Men, No Second Amendment #BringBackOurGirls Boku Haram - Video - May 10th, 2014 [May 10th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Part 2 of 2) - Video - May 10th, 2014 [May 10th, 2014]
- Flawed argument I - May 11th, 2014 [May 11th, 2014]
- Minera Panama S.A. and Petaquilla Minerals Limited Sign $60 Million Agreement - May 11th, 2014 [May 11th, 2014]
- Interview Interrupted by State Highway Administrator - Video - May 12th, 2014 [May 12th, 2014]
- Lawmakers debate proposed EBT restrictions - Video - May 12th, 2014 [May 12th, 2014]
- N.J. Gov. Chris Christie under the gun over ammo bill, as White House beckons - May 13th, 2014 [May 13th, 2014]
- Guns and Supreme Court: Is Second Amendment a Privilege, Not a Right? - May 13th, 2014 [May 13th, 2014]
- Guns to be focus of rally - May 15th, 2014 [May 15th, 2014]
- DHS Says "Hands Off" VIP Terrorist - Video - May 15th, 2014 [May 15th, 2014]
- INFOWARS Nightly News: with David Knight Monday May 12 2014: Plus Special Reports - Video - May 15th, 2014 [May 15th, 2014]
- Gun rights advocates hope for convention impact - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Det Bowers on the Second Amendment - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Trevor Stewart - V18 - AUDIO - THE RACIAL NETWORK & THE SECOND AMENDMENT - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Trevor Stewart - V17 - THE RACIAL-NETWORK & THE SECOND AMENDMENT - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment: A Biography - Video - May 16th, 2014 [May 16th, 2014]
- Knowing Your Rights.... Yes we have them! - Video - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- The Second Amendment (Game) - Video - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- We Have Rights! An Animation On The Second Amendment - Video - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- Letter: 2nd amendment purposes - May 20th, 2014 [May 20th, 2014]
- Senator Ted Cruz's father Rafael Cruz on the Second Amendment - Video - May 20th, 2014 [May 20th, 2014]