Appalachian Scribe

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Political thoughts and random musings from a Tennessee native and world traveler.

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June 26th, 2008 at 23:41

The Supreme Court get an historic case right:

The Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

The court’s 5-4 ruling strikes down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision goes further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.

The court had not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The amendment reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The vote breaks down pretty much as you’d expect. The fact that four justices voted to uphold the ban shows how far our courts have drifted from the Constitution.

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