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December 17, 2004
Justice Department Opines, 2nd Amendment is an Individual Right

The Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department has just published an opinion detailing why the Justice Department believes that the 2nd Amendment infers an individual right.

One very interesting point about Miller - The Supreme Court would not have taken the case of an individual challenging a federal gun tax if the Supreme Court did not believe that the 2nd was an individual right. It would have been dismissed based on the defendant's lack of standing as an individual.

Posted by hoffmang at 03:33 PM

December 16, 2004
San Francisco Will Attempt to Ban Guns

The press reporting is quite vague, but I was alarmed to find out that the City of San Francisco has placed a measure on its ballot to at least ban handguns. Reporting makes it sound like they may be attempting to ban all firearms but that isn't clear.

The funny thing is that this has happened before in the City of San Francisco. In 1982 an ordinance was passed that was then immediately challenged and overturned as conflicting with California state law. The case is Doe v. San Francisco, 136 Cal.App.3d 509 (1982). After a brief scan of California Penal Code section 12026, it looks like the law has not changed here. Why is the city attorney allowing the Supervisors to waste dollars when there is settled precedent against them?

The reason for my alarm beyond the usual annoyance at the total disregard for the 2nd amendment? We are planning on moving to the city during the first quarter of 2005. We are already shopping and have engaged a realtor...

Update: Dr. Volokh has more including a clarification of the ordinance and less certainty that the courts will find against the ordinance.

Update II: Instapundit weighs in.

Posted by hoffmang at 02:53 PM
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