FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT, by God

McDonald v. Chicago. In deed, it is hundreds of pages long. And, it represents the very first time the U.S. Supreme Court has ever directly ruled on whether the Second Amendment applies to the states.

If you have looked at some of my prior posts, you will notice I talked about how the Bill of Rights and its various provisions, affect the individual states. The short version is that after some decades of battles, the court decided only those Amendments which are "implicit in the concept or ordered liberty" apply to the states. Never before McDonald has the court directly addressed this issue. But a few weeks ago it did. The court held that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right. The states may still regulate firearms as long as their laws do not infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.

McDonald, while historic in nature, is somewhat limited. It concerns the right to be armed in your home without a local law telling you it is illegal. As far as it goes, it strikes down state and local laws that directly or indirectly outlaw a person from having a handgun in their home. That is all it says. It does not say states and local governments cannot pass regulations as to the carrying of a gun, the type of ammo you put in it, etc. In fact, the city of Chicago reacted to McDonald by immediately passing a law that says you have to have a friggin' permit from them to step out out in your own yard with your gun! The NRA immediately filed a lawsuit.

It will be interesting to watch. I predict a lot of litigation yet to come. The funny thing is, the states and locals may loose. You see, government can infringe on a basic or fundamental right if they can show a compelling reason. Hell, I don't think they can even show a rational basis for the laws. The facts are clear. Where gun ownership and carry is restricted, crime goes up. When people are relatively unrestricted in the carrying of weapons, violent crime goes down.

One by one, the state and local gun laws will fall. It may take a decade, but it will happen. So, it looks like McDonald v Chicago will be viewed as a landmark gun rights case, and maybe the most important decision in this area in a century. Lock and Load!