The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit interpreted the Second Amendment as bestowing on individuals a right to have guns.No it did not either, Erwin. You've been spinning your subversive interpretation of the Second Amendment for more years than I can remember, but I'm not going to let you get away with a damned lie that anyone who can read can disprove.
While acknowledging that the district court "held that the Second Amendment...does not bestow any rights on individuals except, perhaps, when an individual serves in an organized militia" (the only use of the word "bestow" in the entire document), the panel majority specifically noted:
The wording of the operative clause also indicates that the right to keep and bear arms was not created by government, but rather preserved by it...Hence, the Amendment acknowledges “the right...to keep and bear Arms,” a right that pre-existed the Constitution like “the freedom of speech.” Because the right to arms existed prior to the formation of the new government...the Second Amendment only guarantees that the right “shall not be infringed.”
So try that spin on someone who ain't watchin', Prof.
As for the rest of your subversive screed, you and yours keep claiming you have equal weight of scholarship on your side as far as founding intent goes, but you always seem to come up short on documentation from the time the Constitution was written and ratified to back your claim that the Founders intended the government, and particularly the federal government, to be able to disarm the people.
That's so stupid it's laughable.
And as far as your proposal to apply less than strict scrutiny to an article in the Bill of Rights, how convenient that you believe this ought only apply to the Second--but I guess in order for that to happen, we need to drop this individual rights nonsense and just take you at your demonstrably worm-tongued word for things, right Erwin?
Tell me something--have you ever had a really sharp kid, one who's mind hasn't been clouded by the Stalinist nonsense that passes for public education these days--stand up in one of your lectures and proceed to demonstrate how utterly and irremediably pompous and full of crap you are?
Not impressed, bub. Especially with this latest clumsy bit of whining subversion.
I know GOP apologist Hugh Hewitt considers you one of "The Smart Guys." From where I sit, I just can't see it. You look like just another bloviating pinko to me.
Oh, I see. This is in the Washington Pest. No wonder it's a liberal rant with nothing to back it up.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken, though, Erwin Chemerinsky is the liberal on the COnstitutional debate segment of Hugh Hewitt's show.
"The city's government...means were certainly reasonable."
ReplyDeleteWrong-o, there Professor Chemerinsky! The court specifically found that the city's sweeping disarmament of law-abiding citizens was NOT reasonable, and thus threw out the law.
what they are doing is smart tactics. They are laying the groundwork for setting the level of scrutiny so that maximum infringement is still possible.
ReplyDeleteThey have to get a large body of opinion out there before the SCOTUS hears the case to make such a case though.
I think we will see many more such articles in the weeks and months ahead.
The guy is a subversive bonehead. They are popping out of the woodwork all over on the net. Not only is the right pre-existent. But, it was considered as a gift of our Creator. And, therefore "INALIENABLE". Government didn't give it, hence they cannot take it. Rather, it was intended that they "SECURE" that particular "Liberty" for us.
ReplyDeleteI got a spam from stoptheNRA.com this morning asking for donations to fight this; I pasted a copy of it on my blog.
ReplyDeleteCrotalus is right about Chemerinsky; ol' Radio RNC (Hewitt) usually has him on with Jonathan Alter of Case Western Reserve University or someone like that.
ReplyDeleteNot that Hewitt is much better himself--he's apparently on record as stating that intermediate scrutiny is the best gun advocates can hope for (caveat--I have that only second-hand), and he's pretty obviously in the tank for Romney.
Yeah, if you look at the post, you'll see I mentioned Hewitt--the title parodies "The Smart Guys"--as for Hewitt saying "intermediate scrutiny," I think where you heard it from could have been here... (you'll need to scroll down a bit--Hewitt's name is bolded)
ReplyDelete