Marika Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 North Jersey Media Group Court: Your guns are your right Thursday, June 26, 2008 Last updated: Thursday June 26, 2008, EDT 12:48 PM BY MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled today 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." 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. 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. Gun rights supporters hailed the decision. "I consider this the opening salvo in a step-by-step process of providing relief for law-abiding Americans everywhere that have been deprived of this freedom," said Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the National Rifle Association. The NRA will file lawsuits in San Francisco, Chicago and several of its suburbs challenging handgun restrictions there based on Thursday's outcome. 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." In a concluding paragraph to the his 64-page opinion, Scalia said the justices in the majority "are aware of the problem of handgun violence in this country" and believe the Constitution "leaves the District of Columbia a variety of tools for combating that problem, including some measures regulating handguns." 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. Find this article at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Court_Your...your_right.html Copyright © North Jersey Media Group If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Marika, Yes sir, it is. Sooner or later, folks will wake up and realize; 1. One's personal safety is theirs, and not the police's. 2. When the realize that, and then come to the conclusion there is little punishment for crime these days, maybe they may rethink that some form of personal protection, equal to, or better, superior to that of an aggressor, may be in their interest. 3. Realize that is dead wrong, no pun intended, that for a government to ban (because that is exactly what the DC gun law did) the very object, that is the most effective, from possessing it in "your" home, unless of course, you're one of the good ole' elitist. Sure, the DC gun law allowed long arms, but they had to be, unloaded, disassembled and/or rendered inoperable. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Marika, Yes sir, it is. Sooner or later, folks will wake up and realize; 1. One's personal safety is theirs, and not the police's. Jim ALways remember.... when SECONDS count... the police are only MINUTES away. in other words, you can't depend on them to do what you need to do yourself... which is pretect YOURSELF. Cops don't act... thay can only react. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Marika, Yes sir, it is. Sooner or later, folks will wake up and realize; 1. One's personal safety is theirs, and not the police's. Jim ALways remember.... when SECONDS count... the police are only MINUTES away. in other words, you can't depend on them to do what you need to do yourself... which is pretect YOURSELF. Cops don't act... thay can only react. Kinda' along the line off" - "It only takes a second to call 9-1-1, but, it may take a life time before for the police to arrive." Don't know about anyone else, but thats a bad spot to be in. - There is no way, gun-free zones can be kept gun free. No need to look further than the rash of shootings in recent years. Heck, truth be known, theres more shootings in places like Philadelphia (and others) than there is in Iraq. Hmmmm .... - I've never understood why some blame an inate device for, yet gives a free pass to those who are creating the situation. That's like saying our Cadillac's are all killing machines, instead of putting the blame to the one behind the wheel. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Jim Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Kinda' along the line off" - "It only takes a second to call 9-1-1, but, it may take a life time before for the police to arrive." Don't know about anyone else, but thats a bad spot to be in. - There is no way, gun-free zones can be kept gun free. No need to look further than the rash of shootings in recent years. Heck, truth be known, theres more shootings in places like Philadelphia (and others) than there is in Iraq. Hmmmm .... - I've never understood why some blame an inate device for, yet gives a free pass to those who are creating the situation. That's like saying our Cadillac's are all killing machines, instead of putting the blame to the one behind the wheel. Jim I agree with you. As for you last paragraph... I have owned guns for the last 50 years... and I have YET to have one jump out of the nightstand drawer or out of my gun cabinet and go shooting up the neighborhood. The way some people act, they think that happens all the time. Maybe my guns are just really well behaved but they ALWAYS stay JUST where I put them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marika Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Marika, Yes sir, it is. Sooner or later, folks will wake up and realize; 1. One's personal safety is theirs, and not the police's. Jim ALways remember.... when SECONDS count... the police are only MINUTES away. in other words, you can't depend on them to do what you need to do yourself... which is pretect YOURSELF. Cops don't act... thay can only react. Kinda' along the line off" - "It only takes a second to call 9-1-1, but, it may take a life time before for the police to arrive." Don't know about anyone else, but thats a bad spot to be in. - There is no way, gun-free zones can be kept gun free. No need to look further than the rash of shootings in recent years. Heck, truth be known, theres more shootings in places like Philadelphia (and others) than there is in Iraq. Hmmmm .... - I've never understood why some blame an inate device for, yet gives a free pass to those who are creating the situation. That's like saying our Cadillac's are all killing machines, instead of putting the blame to the one behind the wheel. Jim Gun free zones are the favorite location for nut jobs. Schools and family style restaurants have been your favorite haunt for nut jobs who want to "go out with glory" and yet these same locations STILL refuse to have armed guards. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. If you really want to make people safe drivers again then simply remove all the safety features from cars. No more seat belts, ABS brakes, traction control, air bags or stability control. No more anything. You'll see how quickly people will slow down and once again learn to drive like "normal" humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjtjwdad Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Marika, Yes sir, it is. Sooner or later, folks will wake up and realize; 1. One's personal safety is theirs, and not the police's. Jim ALways remember.... when SECONDS count... the police are only MINUTES away. in other words, you can't depend on them to do what you need to do yourself... which is pretect YOURSELF. Cops don't act... thay can only react. Kinda' along the line off" - "It only takes a second to call 9-1-1, but, it may take a life time before for the police to arrive." Don't know about anyone else, but thats a bad spot to be in. - There is no way, gun-free zones can be kept gun free. No need to look further than the rash of shootings in recent years. Heck, truth be known, theres more shootings in places like Philadelphia (and others) than there is in Iraq. Hmmmm .... - I've never understood why some blame an inate device for, yet gives a free pass to those who are creating the situation. That's like saying our Cadillac's are all killing machines, instead of putting the blame to the one behind the wheel. Jim Gun free zones are the favorite location for nut jobs. Schools and family style restaurants have been your favorite haunt for nut jobs who want to "go out with glory" and yet these same locations STILL refuse to have armed guards. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Here is a good article that came my way several years back. Perhaps you all have read it, but in case you haven't its worth the time. Its called "On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs" By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman. Jim http://mwkworks.com/onsheepwolvesandsheepdogs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catmendo Posted July 3, 2008 Report Share Posted July 3, 2008 this is good for us gun toter's too ... http://www.ajc.com/business/content/busine...age_tab_newstab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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