Ninth Circuit and the 2nd Amendment

Taking a break from studying for my Torts final I came across this opinion filed Dec. 5th, 2002 in the Ninth Circuit on the second amendment.

Eugene Volokh has a rather extensive critique of the decision. Clayton Cramer has more on the subject with an extensive list of references on state court decisions related to the second amendment. From Cramer:

Unsurprisingly, Reinhardt quotes at length from the one-sided Chicago-Kent Law Review symposium issue published two years ago in which only those opposed to the individual rights view were invited--and paid for their articles. (This is almost unheard in scholarly publications.) Of course, Reinhardt cites the well-known soon-to-be former Professor Michael Bellesiles for support for the collective rights view, apparently unaware or unconcerned about Bellesiles's scholarly integrity problem.

This is the sort of decision I expect from the Ninth Circus Court of Appeals: long on verbal sleight of hand, short on examination of original sources, very trusting of gun control advocate opinions.

And Glenn Reynolds has his standard coverage. He also makes an interesting point about the "states' right" argument on the 2nd amendment:

I don't think it's meant to be taken seriously, though. The "states' right" argument is usually employed by gun control supporters like a chain of garlic against a vampire -- pulled out at need, but then hastily tossed back in the cellar afterward, lest its odor offend.

Since the opinion is 69 pages long, I haven't had the time to go through the whole thing yet. However, I'm sure to have more on this subject once I read it.

Posted by Chris Short at December 06, 2002 01:26 AM