The American Spectator

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Another Perspective

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Even the majority's opinion, of course, does not bind the Supreme Court -- and all a dissenter can do is suggest. But the nation's top judiciary has said little directly about the Second Amendment, so every line of reasoning is on the table.

(One should note that, while few cases deal directly with the Second Amendment, many rulings have mentioned the amendment in passing. As David Kopel et al. show in Supreme Court Gun Cases, these references have tended toward an individual rights interpretation.)

Should John Roberts and company adopt Henderson's reasoning, it would delay a ruling on the Second Amendment for the nation at large, and it would deny a population of 580,000 the right to own a gun. But it would not write the Second Amendment into law as a collective right.

Gun rights supporters have every reason to worry about Parker's destiny. Despite two Bush appointees, the ruling is very much up for grabs. But they can take some comfort in that all three D.C. appeals judges saw no reason to declare gun rights a militia-only privilege.

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Law, Supreme Court, Military