SCOTUS Gun Redux: Back to the Fight

We won, and victory is sweet. Despite significant differences of opinion between the majority and minority on the Court, all 9 Justices affirmed that the Second Amendment refers, at least to some degree, to an individual right.

Precedence has been set for recognizing that self-defense through the use of firearms is a basic human right, and that is a victory worth celebrating.

But now it is time to get back to the fight.

As wonderful as Justice Antonin Scalia's words were in upholding the notion of an individual right within the Second Amendment, this Court is notorious for recognizing a right without making provision for protecting that right.

No greater example of this can be found than the Court's recognition that individual, private property rights are guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. But the Court has failed on several different occasions to extend legal protections to those citizens who have suffered through blatant violations of their property rights.

Ilya Somin's excellent post at The Volokh Conspiracy provides a sobering warning to those who think that today's Court ruling on gun rights will insure the legal protection of gun owners who must fight for their right to bear arms in the courts.

And make no mistake about it, the forces of anti-freedom will come out of the woodwork to fight harder than ever to restrict Second Amendment rights in any way they can. The Brady Campaign, for example, is already using the Court's decision to rally the troops to raise more money to fight gun rights.

In addition, we can look for a growing movement to repeal the Second Amendment altogether.

As JR points out, before the ink was dry on the Supreme Court's decision the Chicago Tribune was already calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment on its editorial page.

Further, we all know that had Al Gore or John Kerry won in 2000 and 2004, the Court's decision today would have been much different. We are only one vote away from losing a guaranteed right, and neither Roberts nor Alito would have been there to join with the majority.

A Barack Obama Presidency will guarantee a total shift in the makeup of the Court, and despite his flip-flop statement yesterday claiming he supports the Second Amendment, we can rest assured that his appointees to the Court will be in the mold of Ginsberg, Souter, Breyer, and Stevens.

This shameful gang of 4 all dissented from the majority opinion that D.C.'s gun ban must be struck down.

It is for this reason, perhaps, that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership delayed issuing a response to Thursday's decision on Heller. That response is now on the website of the JPFO. The statement is a realistic assessment of the issues we face.

And thus, let us not be lulled into a false sense of security. We have won a major battle, but the war still rages.

And once again, it is time to fight.

For more thoughts on the Court's decision, click here and here.