Courtesy of Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy, and via Grits, comes this little bit of nonsense from our very own government in its amicus brief, trying to have it both ways in Heller.
“the Second Amendment, properly construed, … does not provide any protections to certain individuals, such as convicted felons, who have never been understood to be within the Amendment’s coverage.”
Really? Not according to Doc Berman:
Notably, the Bill of Rights uses the phrase “the people” in four other Amendments (the First, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth). I have never before heard a claim that all convicted felons are categorically denied the individual rights protected by all these Amendments. The Fourth Amendment, notably, speaks of the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The Supreme Court has never suggested that individuals, once convicted of a felony, thereafter cannot assert Fourth Amendment rights.
While many non-lawyers (Joel?) may assume that the second amendment right to bear arms applies to everyone, they somehow maintain that once the right is firmly established for themselves and people they like and want to be entitled to carry a gun, they can similarly stop the right at will and draw lines so that the people they don’t like can’t have a weapon.
It doesn’t happen that way. If it’s a right, it’s a right. It’s a right for everybody. It’s a right for you. It’s a right for those people you think are “bad”. Why? Because it’s a right, and that’s how rights work. When it’s a right, everybody gets to enjoy it and there isn’t a thing the government can do about it.
The old adage is be careful what you wish for, because you just may get it. The point applies here in spades. The gun advocates may well have the upper hand on the interpretation of the second amendment, but there is no intellectually sound way to distinguish the application of this right, if indeed it is clearly a right belonging to all individuals, to all those people you would prefer weren’t armed.
In the meantime, the only understanding that I can recall from the Constitution regarding who is, and is not, a person, can be found in the three-fifths compromise. Does the government plan to go there as well? Or do they just posit, for the sake of political convenience, the self-serving position that despite a ruling that the second amendment applies to all, they still get to regulate guns whenever it suits them. Some pigs are more equal than others, I believe Orwell put it.
This will indeed be an interesting decision. Let’s see our government wriggle out of this one.
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I, for one, hope the government doesn’t wriggle out of this one. I’m not thrilled about dangerous convicted criminals getting out of jail and being allowed to have guns.
Living in Chicago, however, I’m not allowed to have a gun (sort of), which means the city is treating all 3 million of us as if we were convicted criminals. I’m not thrilled about that either.
If it’s going to be all of us or none of us, I say “Guns for everybody!”, with obvious restrictions such as children, in airplanes or courthouses, while drunk, etc.
Frankly, once someone is out of the correctional system—after their parole has ended—my gut feeling is that it’s disingenuous to claim that these people are (1) too dangerous to own a gun, and yet (2) not so dangerous as to be worth spending money on, especially since the bad guys are out there shooting people anyway, legal guns or not.
Scott:
Your Blog is phenomenal and very educational, I read it every evening. In reference to firearms and the 2nd. Amendment, I’ve been asking for years where does it say a felon can’t possess a firearm. What it is about intellectuals-can’t understand, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. Simple and plain English, therefore all gun laws are unconstitutional. Period. I am of the opinion anybody that votes against your right to bear arms will also infringe upon your other rights. The 2nd. Amendment protects all other Amendments. In My Live Free or Die State of New Hampshire it seems petty laws are being classify as felonies. We will die here but I doubt we will be free. Similar to other activities in life, firearm schooling and education is must. Maybe, just maybe if a large segment of the population is arm, just maybe WE WILL BE LEFT ALONE.
H.B.
DOJ: Still Disingenuous, But At Least Amusing
Now that our Government has taken the position that felons are no longer people, which could
save a small fortune on medicaid since only people get sick, the DOJ has moved on to address
DOJ: Still Disingenuous, But At Least Amusing
Now that our Government has taken the position that felons are no longer people, which could
save a small fortune on medicaid since only people get sick, the DOJ has moved on to address
I’m a felon in Oregon,barred from ever having a gun legally.I’ve came a long way since then.I’ve fought DHS and got full custody of my son Chris(6 yrs old) and I’ve become a certified foster care provider so I could have his brother Jacob(9 yrs old)live with us as well.I’m going to adopt Jacob which should finally be completed by the end of February.I’ve also registered to vote and have my voter card.To get my boys I’ve had to jump through alot of hoops for the Department of human services, 22 week parenting class,psych eval,foster parent training,alcohol & drug eval,etc.etc.The state of Oregon has basically said,I can have custody of my son and I can adopt his brother and they trust me to care for and raise them in a good, safe, caring way but I have no recourse to get my gun rights back.