SCOTUS & Guns

I'm not much...well I'm not anything of a Supreme Court scholar, and so yesterday's 2nd Amendment decision and some of the less than enthusiastic reaction kind of got me dithering.

But I've had a little time to think about it, and I think it's basically all good.

Here's why. When a political issue is decided by a close margin, that's usually a signal that with a small change in legislative bobbleheads the original decision may very well be in danger of being overwritten. I.e., Republicans pass tax cuts, as soon as the Democrats take office, they raise taxes.

This sort of "split decision" almost always means that it is only safe as long as the party favorable to it retains office and power.

And I think that's how some of our less optimistic brothers have been regarding the SCOTUS decision affirming that individuals have a right to keep and bear arms.

But this is not a legislative body (well, you know what I mean...it's not officially a legislative body), and even when personnel changes, they are very respectful of their own precedents. Regardless of the closeness of the decision, it is a final decision, made by the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

It will take a lot of precedent shattering for the court to revisit this issue and vacate their own decision anytime soon. They're not very likely to do that.

Even if more liberal justices are appointed to the court, the final decision has already been rendered.

I'm not saying it can't ever happen. But the likelihood of the overturning of this decision just because we get Obie's (or McCain's) justices, is remote. And that is nothing but a good thing.

The restrictions they will find acceptable is, of course, another story. But let's deal with one thing at a time...and let's all celebrate the confirmation of our individual Constitutional right to keep and bear arms as free citizens of a free country.

And the decision itself, even allowing for "restrictions" yet undefined, gives us more leverage in every case against said restrictions. By affirming our individual right to bear arms, and with Scalia clearly stating that this right is about self-defense, not hunting, sport or target shooting, the bar for restricting them just got a little higher. This is all good.

The Gunslinger