Little-Acorn
Well-Known Member
Several weeks ago, the 9th Circus Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the 2nd amendment's blanket ban on "gun control" laws applied to state and local governments, as well as to the Federal governments. Now the 7th Circuit has ruled the opposite: that its ban does not apply to state and local governments.
I pointed out back then, that the 9th Circus ruling was unnecessary: the clear language of the 2nd amendment makes no restriction to only the Federal govenment, unlike the language of the 1st amendment, which restricts its regulation to only the Fed ("Congress shall make no law..."). Courts have violated that clear distinction, of course, for generations, pretending the amendment didn't say what it said, or that the distinction was somehow "unclear".
But today's 7th Circuit ruling is a clear violation of the 2nd's ban on gun restrictions.
SWince two different Circuit Courts have now ruled in opposite ways on the same issue, this often (but not always) causes the Supreme Court to take the case if it's appealed there.
Hopefully the Supremes will grant cert and hear the case once it's presented.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awIn1M4tWxi8&refer=worldwide
Chicago Law Banning Handguns in City Upheld by Court
By Andrew M. Harris
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- A Chicago ordinance banning handguns and automatic weapons within city limits was upheld by a U.S. Court of Appeals panel, which rejected a challenge by the National Rifle Association.
The unanimous three-judge panel ruled today that a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year, which recognized an individual right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, didn’t apply to states and municipalities.
“The Supreme Court has rebuffed requests to apply the second amendment to the states,” U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote, upholding lower court decisions last year to throw out suits against Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Illinois.
The Fairfax, Virginia-based NRA sued the municipalities in June 2008, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller struck down a hand-gun ban in the U.S. capital district encompassing Washington.
“We clearly disagree with the court’s conclusion,” NRA attorney William N. Howard, a partner in Chicago’s Freeborn & Peters LLP, said in a telephone interview. “The next step will be an appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Applicable Law
A San Francisco-based federal appeals court, with jurisdiction over cases from California, Oregon, Washington and six other Western U.S. states, in April ruled the Second Amendment can be read as applicable to states and counties.
“This thing is headed for the Supreme Court,” University of Chicago Constitutional Law Professor Richard Epstein said in a phone interview.
“This is a question where you cannot run a split administration and there’s no way the circuits can resolve this amongst themselves,” he said.
The 7th Circuit case is National Rifle Association of America v. City of Chicago, 08-4241, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Chicago). The 9th Circuit case is Nordyke v. King, 07-15763, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco).
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
I pointed out back then, that the 9th Circus ruling was unnecessary: the clear language of the 2nd amendment makes no restriction to only the Federal govenment, unlike the language of the 1st amendment, which restricts its regulation to only the Fed ("Congress shall make no law..."). Courts have violated that clear distinction, of course, for generations, pretending the amendment didn't say what it said, or that the distinction was somehow "unclear".
But today's 7th Circuit ruling is a clear violation of the 2nd's ban on gun restrictions.
SWince two different Circuit Courts have now ruled in opposite ways on the same issue, this often (but not always) causes the Supreme Court to take the case if it's appealed there.
Hopefully the Supremes will grant cert and hear the case once it's presented.
-------------------------------------
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awIn1M4tWxi8&refer=worldwide
Chicago Law Banning Handguns in City Upheld by Court
By Andrew M. Harris
June 2 (Bloomberg) -- A Chicago ordinance banning handguns and automatic weapons within city limits was upheld by a U.S. Court of Appeals panel, which rejected a challenge by the National Rifle Association.
The unanimous three-judge panel ruled today that a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year, which recognized an individual right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment, didn’t apply to states and municipalities.
“The Supreme Court has rebuffed requests to apply the second amendment to the states,” U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote, upholding lower court decisions last year to throw out suits against Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park, Illinois.
The Fairfax, Virginia-based NRA sued the municipalities in June 2008, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller struck down a hand-gun ban in the U.S. capital district encompassing Washington.
“We clearly disagree with the court’s conclusion,” NRA attorney William N. Howard, a partner in Chicago’s Freeborn & Peters LLP, said in a telephone interview. “The next step will be an appeal to the Supreme Court.”
Applicable Law
A San Francisco-based federal appeals court, with jurisdiction over cases from California, Oregon, Washington and six other Western U.S. states, in April ruled the Second Amendment can be read as applicable to states and counties.
“This thing is headed for the Supreme Court,” University of Chicago Constitutional Law Professor Richard Epstein said in a phone interview.
“This is a question where you cannot run a split administration and there’s no way the circuits can resolve this amongst themselves,” he said.
The 7th Circuit case is National Rifle Association of America v. City of Chicago, 08-4241, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Chicago). The 9th Circuit case is Nordyke v. King, 07-15763, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco).
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
