Nunchuks or fighting sticks, a martial-arts standby, are outlawed throughout the State of New York--gangs and other bad people use them. A fellow named Maloney, an enthusiast, felt that his right to bear sticks had been infringed, and sued. It came up to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals a while ago, and SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor was part of a rather brief decision to uphold the lower court, which held for the defendent. That is, they said that New York indeed has the right to make laws regarding ownership and use of weapons of all kinds.

The issue, which will undoubtedly come before the Supreme Court soon, is not the meaning of the Second Amendment, but whether it is binding on the states. In the recent ruling in Heller v. DC, the Supremes said that the District could not have a restrictive ownership law, under the amendment. But that ruling applies to the District, a federal jurisdiction. The binding precedent, as the 2nd Circuit saw it, is a much earlier case that says the Bill of Rights applies only to the feds (Congress shall make no law ...). They resisted the temptation to second-guess the high court as to the extent of Heller.

But in joining the attack on Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, gun-rights advocates pounced. "Obama Picks Anti-gun Judge for the Supreme Court--Time to start contacting your Senators right away," said the Gun Owners of America.

The NRA and friends would very much like the Second Amendment to mean what they say it means, and apply to every jurisdiction in the land. The city of Chicago and neighboring Oak Park, on the other hand, have very restrictive gun laws. A challenge to these laws made it to the 7th Circuit recently. A panel which included two leading conservative judges ruled for the cities, unanimously. They cited the argument of the 2nd Circuit in the Maloney decision, which has little to do with gun rights and much to do with constitutional law. Which ought to moderate criticism of Sotomayor from the gun lobby, but probably won't.

(Dave Sagarin, June 8, 2009)