The Interocitor

2nd Amendment Dead Again

The 2nd Circuit (Bach v. Pataki) reaffirmed two idiotic notions Friday: that the 2nd Amendment doesn't mean anything, and that the "privileges and immunities" clause of the 14th Amendment Article IV also doesn't mean anything.

In a unanimous decision, the three judge panel said they were bound by the 1886 US Supreme Court decision Pressler v. Illinois and must rule that the 2nd Amendment binds only the federal government, not the states. Never mind that this ruling came before the incorporation doctrine where the Bill of Rights was retroactively imposed upon the states. Apparently this won't apply to the 2nd Amendment until the Supreme Court says so. They also ruled that "privileges and immunities" don't apply if the if the discrimination "has a substantial and legitimate connection" with a state purpose. Which could mean nearly anything.

It should be noted that Bach is not some right-wing crank or wife-beater seeking a gun for nefarious purposes. He is by all accounts just the kind of person who one would choose to license: an ex-Navy SEAL with a top secret security clearance. He has a carry permit in his home state and simply wished to be permitted to carry the weapon into another state (New York) on periodic visits to relatives. New York, however, limits permits to residents, so he is completely SOL, and cannot be trusted with a gun.

Given a few minor changes at the Supreme Court, this would be an ideal case to overturn Pressler after far too long.