Just as you have been, I've been following McDonald in the news and on the blogs. The early reports bode well, though I confess to a little discomfort at Alan Gura's schooling of Justice Sotomayor even though he was right. It's not as if she ever was or will be a friend to the Second Amendment and cultivating her does us no good, but she and her peers take their elevated positions very seriously.
It may not matter; even the usual anti-rights sources indicate a high probability of five votes for incorporation, possibly more depending on the delicate balance between "keep" and "bear" that frets some of the more liberal Justices. ...Can't hurt that Chicago's attorney walked all over the Supremes far more rudely, either.
Whatever the decision, considerable latitude for draconian regulation will remain; Mr. McDonald has no doubt already studied Washington, D.C.'s registration and permitting process and if the Court agrees that the intent of the Second and Fourteenth Amendments was not that he be left with no defense other than a shotgun, thousands of his fellow-Chicagoans may soon embark on the same voyage of discovery.
But say it goes the other way, what then? Same as winning, at least in IL: Back to the grind. There's only one (1) state left that absolutely forbids the bearing of arms and despite wide popular support outside Chicago and a remarkably strong gunnie community, there's a lot of work still to be done.
Ms. Sotomeyor should have recused herself as she has already voted against guns in her previous job.
ReplyDeleteYour view of Gura's patronizing comment is dead on. One of the commandments of politics is never make an enemy unnecessarily, and that's just what he did.
ReplyDeleteThe Wise Latina is unlikely ever again to listen to a Second Amendment case without recalling the condescension.
The comment itself is brilliant, but it could have been tucked away for a few moments and used at some point where no one could have taken it personally.
If you were offended by the same comment I was offended by, I totally understand where you are coming from. The comment was rude and condescending. If anything, it gave me a lower opinion of Gura since it was uncalled for. He could have conveyed the same idea without the nasty tone.
ReplyDeleteIt took decades after Gitlow to develop the First. Heller should take the same schedule.
ReplyDeleteShootin' Buddy