if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803
The 2nd Amendment Need Not Apply
On the heels of Lee’s post (see below), California is hardly alone in having places that don’t think a Supreme Court decision on the right to bear arms applies to them. Take, for example, the Windy City.
When it comes to firearms, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is no slave to rationality. “Does this lead to everyone having a gun in our society?” he demanded after the ruling came down. “Then why don’t we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, where you have a gun and I have a gun and we’ll settle it in the streets?”
From listening to him, you might assume that the only places in North America that don’t have firefights on a daily basis are cities that outlaw handguns. You might also assume that Chicago is an oasis of concord, rather than the site of 443 homicides last year.
So it’s no surprise that Daley refuses to make the slightest change in the handgun ordinance, preferring to fight the lawsuits filed by the National Rifle Association. He is not impressed that 1) the law almost certainly violates the Constitution, which elected officials are supposed to uphold, and 2) it will cost taxpayers a lot of money to fight lawsuits the city is bound to lose.
The Chicago ban dates back to 1983—a time when no one had to worry about the forgotten Second Amendment. The ordinance prohibited the possession of all handguns (except those acquired before the law took effect).
It had no obvious benefits: Homicides climbed in the ensuing years and by 1992 were 41 percent higher than before. But the policy rested undisturbed until last summer, when the Supreme Court ruled that Washington’s complete ban on handguns violated the individual right to use arms for self-defense in the home.
If that logic applies to the D.C. statute, it very likely applies to Chicago’s law. The city, however, notes that the nation’s capital is a federal enclave, and that the court did not say that states must respect the Second Amendment. That’s true. The court’s ruling also did not say that China is in Asia, which doesn’t make it part of South America.
I always find it highly ironic when cities controlled by liberal politicians raise a hue and cry during election time when they say that their citizens’ votes aren’t being counted because they’re Americans too, yet when it comes to certain rights suddenly the notion that they are subject to the same laws as the rest of us doesn’t seem to matter. (Bear in mind that Obama is a product of the same Chicago politics that got Daley into his dad’s fifedom, yet he is now President-elect and, despite paranoid rumors to the contrary, will as President honor the Second Amendment. See what I mean about irony?)
For me, this isn’t so much a states’ rights issue about gun restrictions as it is a Constitutional one about guaranteeing the rights of the people, everywhere. If the Constutition is the law of the land, as defined by the Supreme Court, then cities should respect it. Seeing as how they get their funding from the government mandated by that Constitution, you’d think they would. But I guess to Hizzonor the law only applies when you agree with it.
Comments
yet he is now President-elect and, despite paranoid rumors to the contrary, will as President honor the Second Amendment.
Do you have any basis for that asssertion?
I am going gun shoping before he is sworn in-high cap magazines for my handguns and one eeevviiiilll semi-auto rifle with lots of mags. Can’t decide though, .223 or .308?
If Chicago wants to comport itself like it’s no longer part of the US, does that mean that Obama’s no longer a citizen and we can have McCain instead?
Given the Big O’s track record, no i dont trust him, why should i?
I am going gun shoping before he is sworn in-high cap magazines for my handguns and one eeevviiiilll semi-auto rifle with lots of mags. Can’t decide though, .223 or .308?
.308 hits harder, but is more expensive.
IF you are gong that route, id Suggest a M-1A, FN/FAL or a AR-10.
AS for .223- the list is nearly endless but a good M-4 or H-BAR AR-15 should do well.
yet he is now President-elect and, despite paranoid rumors to the contrary, will as President honor the Second Amendment.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. I’ve tried to find the quote I heard from him, without much success, after the Supreme Court decision about the D.C. law banning handguns. I’ll paraphrase, but essentially he was doing what he tried to do a lot during the campaign...have it both ways.
He said something to the effect of “I fully support the second amendment, but I also think that cities have the right to enact common sense gun controls.”
Left unsaid is the fact that to a lot of people, “Common sense gun controls” means banning guns altogether.
Can’t decide though, .223 or .308?
I have a .308, and greatly prefer to just use a 30-06. You generally have a much more versatile round, and have no problem going from fast light rounds to fast heavy rounds. The .308 tops out in the middle of the field.
On the other hand, the .223 is, in my opinion, generally a round best left to shooting coyotes with.
He said something to the effect of “I fully support the second amendment, but I also think that cities have the right to enact common sense gun controls.”
Here is what he said after the decision was made:
“I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures. The Supreme Court has now endorsed that view.”
So yeah, he was trying to have it both ways--note that the second part of his statement is really little more than obtuse generalization, and he’s flat-out lying about the first part. His past voting record shows that he is an absolute supporter of draconian gun control laws to the point that he supports (or at the very least, supported as an Illinois congressman) Great Britian-style prosecution of individuals who defend themselves from theft or attack by using firearms. If nothing else, his implication that “crime-ravaged communities” have been protected by the implication of strict gun control laws is simply wrong on every conceivable level.
He’s not in office yet, and with the economy to deal with the minute he gets into office, he may not be inclined to address gun control even if he wants to, unless Pelosi and Reid push through some chickenshit “assault weapons” law that he simply pencil-whips without drawing attention to it. Since he has the press’s mouth firmly attached to his ass, he wouldn’t have to worry about anybody calling him on it, either. However, I believe, for the next couple of years anyway, that laws dealing with basic handguns, rifles, and shotguns will be left alone.
Alas budgetary restrictions impose some constraints (would that the governmnet felt the same way about, well, anything).
SO: there is a bolt gun in my future, it will probably be 30.06 or maybe 300 win mag, but I don’t feel urgency to get that one yet.
I want a semi auto that is fun to shoot. Secondary consideration would be something I could hunt withnot sure how likely that is, but I would love to show up at my brother’s hunting cabin amindst his snobby Baretta armed buddies with an FAL or some such (I dream of a Dragonov, 7.62x54 is a nice round but real Dragonovs seem to run about $3k).
I would like to keep this purchase in the triple digits. I don’t care too much what the thing looks like. I am considering Kel-tecs .223-they can use M-16/AR mags and seem to have decent reviews. Also considering Mini 14 and some sort of AR.
For a .308 I have been researching Saigas. Mixed reviews, some love them some don’t. The FALs at that price all seem to have been built from mixed batches of surpluss parts. CETME makes a cheap one but I haven’t seen a single positive review.
Any advice out there??
Oh and I may just stretch the budget with a DPMS Panther in .308.
I want a semi auto that is fun to shoot.
Ruger 10/22. You can mod the ever-loving shit out of it and have a great time.
So yeah, he was trying to have it both ways
Though, of course, to his supporters, it’s another example of his “nuanced” thinking.
Ruger 10/22. You can mod the ever-loving shit out of it and have a great time.
AGREED ,i got 2 of them, they are VERY reliable and very easily “modified”. there are all kids of after market accessories for that fun fun gun.
Already have a .22 (Mossberg semi). Really I just want to get something that is likely to be banned in the next four years. When my wife complains I get to say ‘Well you voted for the guy’
In that case, go for a Chinese made AK-47 in semi-auto.
Inexpensive, will take a shitload of abuse, and readily available ammo. My dad had a pair of them, and I’m pretty sure at least one had been reconverted to full-auto, one of which he kept in the truck behind the seat with a couple of loaded clips in the glove box.
SCREW thos Chin-Com AK’s get one from Arsenal or a east European MFG.
Next entry: Was He Marked Down?
Previous entry: Another Gun Control Success
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