Violent people who pose a clear and immediate threat to the physical safety of others should not be allowed to possess firearms.
That seems like a statement any reasonable person living in a self-governing society can readily agree with.
And yet on Friday morning, it took the United States Supreme Court 103 pages of opinions, concurrences and dissent to work it all out.
The good news is that eight members of the court landed on the right conclusion, agreeing that the Second Amendment permits laws like the one that stripped weapons from Zackey Rahimi, a domestic abuser and general public menace who shoots guns the way regular people shake hands.
The spectacle of judges role-playing as amateur historians is embarrassing to watch, and yet the court chose to put itself in this position with its gobsmacking 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, which required that any gun law be “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Persons:
concurrences, Zackey
Organizations:
United States Supreme, New York, Inc
Locations:
New