More Fallout From Heller

More Fallout From Heller

It was very nice of Professor Randy Barnett (with whom I have clashed more than once) to include me in this June 27, 2008 Wall Street Journal article:

Due to the political orthodoxy among most constitutional law professors, some of the most important and earliest of this scholarship was produced by nonacademics like Don Kates, Stephen Halbrook, David Kopel, Clayton Cramer and others. Believe it or not, Heller was a case of nearly first impression, uninhibited by any prior decisions misinterpreting the Second Amendment.

Instapundit brought to my attention this amazing example of antigunners seeing the light, from June 27, 2008 WMAQ channel 5:

WILMETTE, Ill. -- Wilmette has suspended enforcement of its 19-year-old ordinance banning handgun possession in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that appears to invalidate such bans.

What is amazing is that Heller only applied to the federal government--not to the state or local governments. But I have high confidence that we are going to be successful. If anything, the historical evidence is much richer to show that the 14th Amendment was intended to impose the Second Amendment onto the states--and boy, do I have a collection of stuff from the 14th Amendment period! I found so much of it while doing research for the Heller case that it was something of a nuisance, because it got in the way of finding stuff from the period that I needed.

Still, it is important not to get too overconfident. To quote Han Solo in Star Wars: "Don't get cocky, kid!"