17-03-2008, 11:21 PM
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#192 (permalink)
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| Sundance is my bff
Last Online: 10-08-2009 09:13 PM Join Date: Aug 2007
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| U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Gun Rights After 217 Years of Saying Little Quote: |
The high court tomorrow hears arguments on the District of Columbia's handgun ban in a case that will determine whether the Second Amendment protects the rights of all people or only those affiliated with a National Guard or other state-run militia.
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That question, though at the core of the amendment's significance, is one the court has never squarely addressed and hasn't even contemplated in almost 70 years. A ruling against the nation's capital would enshrine a new right and potentially raise election-year questions about other gun laws around the country.
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``This may be one of the only cases in our lifetime when the Supreme Court is going to interpret an important provision of the Constitution unencumbered by precedent,'' said Randy Barnett, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University in Washington.
The District of Columbia's 32-year-old gun ban, perhaps the strictest in the nation, bars most residents from owning handguns and requires that all legal firearms be kept unloaded and either disassembled or under trigger lock. Six city residents challenged the law, saying they want firearms available in their homes for self-defense.
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Dozens of Briefs
The dispute is perhaps the most closely watched case of the Supreme Court's 2007-08 term, which runs through June. Outside groups filed 67 briefs, more than two-thirds opposing the Washington law.
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Unclear Language
The language of the Second Amendment leaves open many questions about its purpose. Adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, the amendment reads in its entirety: ``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.''
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Strict scrutiny would ``disrupt all the state gun control laws,'' said Winkler, who filed a brief backing Washington. ``What we might see is a tidal wave of people coming into court challenging their convictions for various gun crimes.''
| U.S. Court Takes Up Gun Rights After 217 Years of Saying Little - Yahoo! News |
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