The 2nd Amendment
It seems that the US Supreme Court is set to rule - for once and for all - that the second amendment is a personal right. This means that it’ll (probably) overthrow DC’s gun-ban. Patterico explains:
After having listened to Dellinger and Clement, I have the impression that 1) Kennedy supports an individual right; 2) Scalia and Roberts think you could still ban, say, machine guns consistent with the Second Amendment; 3) It’s probably 5-4 with Kennedy in the majority and Roberts writing a narrow opinion focusing on the sweeping nature of the ban; and 4) Scalia seems to think strict scrutiny is just fine. I’m not sure how Scalia reconciles 2) and 4), but it may not be necessary given 3). And that may be the sum total of my analysis even after I finish listening to the guy arguing for Heller.
You can read the Heller argument here.
Your guess as to outcome is pretty good in my view. The problem is that NRA and other pro-gun forces are going to be upset because the ultimate rulng almost must include a right for governments (state, city etc.) to regulate ownership and use of guns just as the Federal gov’t does now. It will also probably send future fact-finding on what regulations are appropriate to trial courts. That’s why the Solicitor General was in such a box. We’ll be "smarter, later" but that’s my take.
john,
and the other side, the attorney granted that the government doesn’t have a right to ban individual use of weapons wholesale, but only ban a particular type of weapon that wouldn’t be used in a militia , comparing a ban on handguns to a ban on machine guns. the justices weren’t buying it