Very Ironic

in light of the entry I put up earlier today. While on break from my online job and networking efforts, I found out, through the CNN website, that the US Supreme Court has accepted a case involving the issue of gun rights in Washington, DC. This is significant since this may well mark the first time that the Supreme Court will rule on the broad constitutional question regarding the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. This issue has been so radioactive that the Supreme Court has ruled on the Second Amendment only once in its over 200 year history (a 1939 case which did not provide clear guidance and muddied waters instead).

Supreme Court

Prediction ? 10 years ago, I would have said that the Supreme Court would have found some kind of procedural wiggle out of this case so as to avoid getting into this mess. Nowadays, there appears to be some consensus among conservative and liberal (can you believe it ?) that the Second Amendment does confer upon individuals the right to bear arms. I think that most people would agree that the Second Amendment is not a model of clarity and is subject to different interpretations. As a practical matter, the facts on the ground will trump any abstract constitutional theory and lead the Supreme Court to a first ever broad constitutional ruling on the issue of the Second Amendment. Or I could be wrong. In any case, given the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled on this issue only once before, this could be a significant decision. We'll find out by next June, right in the middle of the US Presidential campaign !!

Here's a wikipedia article on this article and which includes the text of the Second Amendment:

Second Amendment