Despite anti-gunner bleatings to the contrary, the United States
Supreme Court has never squarely decided whether the Second Amendment
to the United States Constitution confers an individual right, or as
multiple courts have claimed, a "collective right" of the organized
militias of the states. That may be about to change.
The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the DC
District Court's ruling in favor of certain DC anti-gun statutes,
holding those statutes unconstitutional. In doing so, they have
defied some of the rulings of other federal appellate circuits (which
have insisted that that Second Amendment confers only a "collective
right" to keep and bear arms) by specifically stating "the Second
Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms." The
Supreme Court has for many years dodged a ruling on this
interpretation, consistently denying certiorari, but with conflicting
rulings by different circuits, they may no longer have that option.
The opinion, for those interested in reading "real law," as opposed to
media spin, can be found here:
http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/docs/...3/04-7041a.pdf
Of additional interest are the listings of state attorneys general who
participated in amicus curiae briefs, and which side they took. I was
pleased to see that our (former) Ohio Attorney General joined those
from Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan,
Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in favor of the
appellants.
Those in favor of the appellees were the usual suspects: the attorneys
general from Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey, as well as city
attorneys from New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. But one was
unexpected: the Idaho Attorney General jumped in with anti-gun
crowd?!?! WTF?
OT: The Second Amendment: An INDIVIDUAL Right 
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