Friday, January 19, 2007

The 2nd Amendment

Ryan at Jokers to the Right has a brief discussion about why the Second Amendment exits:
The twin purposes of self and community defense may very well lie behind the Second Amendment’s language encompassing both the importance of a well-regulated militia and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. As the constitutional and criminal law scholar Don Kates has noted in the journal Constitutional Commentary, thinkers at the time when the Constitution was written drew no real distinction between resisting burglars, foreign invaders or domestic tyrants: All were wrongdoers that good citizens had the right, and the duty, to oppose with force.
I'm more amazed that Delaware manages to have such a restrictive Gun Rights climate when our state version of the Second Amendment reads as follows:
A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use.
Delaware has both complete prohibitions on some types of arms (most Federal Class III weapons) and a number of prohibitions on possession and open carry of arms. I wonder if any of these have been tested in court?

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