McDonald v. Chicago

The lamestream media told you:

Chicago's 27-year-old ban on handguns is coming up for challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court, with a ruling likely due by June 2010, and an oral-argument date as early as February, expected to be set soon. It is the second major gun-rights case to reach the Court, following the 2008 landmark Heller case that overturned the Wash., D.C. strict ban on working guns at home. Alan Gura, lead counsel in the Heller case, is lead counsel in this case, and is quoted as saying, "State and local politicians should be on notice: the Second Amendment is a normal part of the Bill of Rights, and it is coming to your town." The case is being brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, the Illinois State Rifle Association, and four local plaintiffs.

The Uninvited Ombudsman notes however that:

Although this is presented almost everywhere as a Second Amendment case, and it does and will affect 2A in profound ways, the real significance of this case is in its 14th Amendment implications.

The 14th Amendment is supposed to protect the "privileges and immunities" of all Americans. It was enacted soon after the War Between The States (1868), to prevent states from denying rights to freed slaves. The intent was to apply the Bill of Rights to people regardless of the state they were in.

This was completely eviscerated in the Slaughterhouse cases (1873), and has remained dormant since then, leaving only the due process and equal protection clauses in 14A to carry that water. You can google the elements of this situation so I don't have to bore you with the incredibly fascinating lengthy details here.

McDonald, using the Second Amendment, is a stage upon which the High Court can at last restore 14A to the prominence it deserves and is intended to have. The issue could have arisen in other contexts, but here we get a stunning two for one drama.

If 14A is restored, the benefits for liberty, limiting government, protecting states rights and civil rights, and slowing or stopping power-mad federal legislators and Congress as a whole are ginormous, with no way to adequately express in words how big that would be for your freedom -- an effect that will play out for decades to come.

So, sure, we want to see 2A "incorporated" against the states, and prevent states from flatly ignoring 2A and denying or infringing fundamental rights as they have been doing for decades. And sure, the gun-rights players and the hopelessly biased "news" media are highly focused on this important element of the case and Chicago's tyrannical gun ban for innocent people. But it is the 14A aspect that deserves at least equal attention, because it will affect the entire Bill of Rights, 90% of which could also use the help.

Don't forget that Bill of Rights Day is coming up on Tuesday, Dec. 15 this year. Mark your calendar now for events in your area -- and organize one if there isn't one already. http://www.gunlaws.com/BOR-Day-2008-Report.htm. Do something good -- send that link to your email list.

Comments

[Daniel Conti]

Excellent point on the 14th Amendment. I haven't seen this anywhere else.

[Grace]

Please don't forget that this will cost us also because we will need more judges, more juries, more courthouses, and it will greatly expand the judicial system as we know it today.