Justice Lew, concurring in part and dissenting in part...
I totally agree that a plain reading of the Second Amendment clearly establishes an individual right to own and possess firearms. Quite honestly, I don't see how anyone can argue that an individual does not have the right to defend their own self as well as their family.
BUT.........
And this is why I won't be nominated for NRA President anytime soon...
No rights are without qualification, and the nuts over at the NRA never have seemed to quite get a grasp on that. The right to own a gun is (and should be) no exception.
The NRA position is that anyone should be able to own any weapon at any time without consequence. Now you can disagree with me all you want, or you can go pick up a copy of their magazine or check their website and read through it and accept the fact that I am correct in that statement.
The LewMan's position is a little more complex- on the head end, the LewMan agrees that you should be able to have that gun in your home (and I've come around on concealed carry as well).
But on the rear end....if you discharge that weapon irresponsibly, you should pay dearly for it.
The NRA loves to cite the example of the burglar who breaks into your home. Fine, I don't disagree with that.
But that's not how most shootings occur. I can tell you how they went down in Madison, where I practiced for four years- Saturday night, the boys have been drinking, someone starts talking smack, no one backs down, next thing you know guns are being fired. I represented the guys who did the firing, I also represented guys who were fired at (fortunately I was never involved in a situation where a person actually got shot, but I attributed that more to the alcohol than anything else).
Well, a person who shoots a gun in a situation like that should be punished. And if he were to kill or would someone, he should be punished severely. And he should also be subject to civil liability as well.
Just like after Virginia Tech, the NRA kept arguing how that situation would have been avoided if the Hokie students were all armed. Yeah that's a good idea, arm a bunch of drunken college students. And that way, when some sorority whore dumps her frat boyfriend at a kegger and embarrasses him in front of all his buddies, he can just pull out his 9 mm and whack her (assuming a gun can still be fired after being submered in a kiddie pool full of beer).
To quote Peter Parker's Uncle Ben, with great power comes great responsibility. The LewMan is a huge mark for responsibility and accountability for one's actions. You justifiably shoot someone, good for you. But you do so without justification, you should pay the price. And the jury is who should make that determination.
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