Reply #51: We had many threads on D.C. v. Heller leading up to SCOTUS' decision on 26 June 2008 and after.

[jody]

I and others on DU read most if not all the amicus briefs supporting petitioner or respondent as well as the opinion and dissents by Stevens and Breyer.

Those threads were quickly overwhelmed by the campaign, election, and startup of a Dem administration and Dem congress.

Please start a thread and let we pro-RKBA DUers participate or pm me with your thoughts and I'll start one.
Here's to you in hopes your thought may produce a valuable DU thread. :toast:

Re, civil rights, just one law "What constitutes a conviction of such a crime shall be determined in accordance with the law of the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held. Any conviction which has been expunged, or set aside or for which a person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored shall not be considered a conviction for purposes of this chapter, unless such pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms." 18 USC 921

Re SCOTUS and Heller:

c. Meaning of the Operative Clause. Putting all of these textual elements together, we find that they guarantee the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation. This meaning is strongly confirmed by the historical background of the Second Amendment. We look to this because it has always been widely understood that the Second Amendment, like the First and Fourth Amendments, codified a pre-existing right. The very text of the Second Amendment implicitly recognizes the pre-existence of the right and declares only that it “shall not be infringed.” As we said in United States v. Cruikshank, 92 U. S. 542, 553 (1876), “{t}his is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second amendment declares that it shall not be infringed . . . .”16

And of course you will want to discuss the issue of incorporating the Second Amendment in the Fourteenth Amendment that the 9th Circuit recently ruled on in the Nordyke case.