HELLER AND GUN CONTROL
“Justice Scalia would be proud,” wrote Judge William Young of the Massachusetts Federal District Court in referring to Justice Antonin Scalia’s 5-4 majority opinion in the 2008 case of District of Columbia v. Heller. VoxFairfax offered commentary [April 7] on the SCOTUS decision, especially its reliance upon “originalism” as Constitutional jurisprudence. Judge Young reasoned, in perfect agreement with Justice Scalia but in contrast to the pro-gun plaintiffs, that:
The AR-15 and its analogs, along with large capacity magazines, are simply not weapons within the original meaning of the individual constitutional right to “bear arms.” [emphasis added]
To support the court’s conclusion that strict enforcement of the 1998 Massachusetts ban on assault weapons, the opinion cited to Heller and Scalia that “weapons that are most useful in military service–M16 rifles and the like–are not protected under the Second Amendment.”
ARLINGTON COUNTRY CLUBS BROUHAHA
In Richmond on April 9, Governor Northam vetoed HB1204, which would have forced Arlington County to absorb a $1.5 million tax revenue loss in favor of a lower tax base for two country clubs. The Governor wisely avoided the political thicket created by Del. Thugo’s bill employing a weaponized Dillon rule against the county. VoxFairfax covered the issue in a March 26 post.
GUBERNATORIAL DISSOLUTION OF EMERALD CITIES
VoxFairfax contributing correspondent Lorraine Simonis [April 7] parsed the question of sanctuary cities and the DOJ’s campaign to end them. Governor Northam on April 9 vetoed HB1257, which sought to ban nonexistent sanctuary cities from the Commonwealth. Northam stated during the 2017 gubernatorial campaign that he would sign a bill banning sanctuary cities “if it came to my desk.” Clearly, upon reflection, the Governor disagreed with himself.
Judge Young got it right! The Heller decision is really quite narrow; while Justice Scalia fudged a little to allow handgun ownership, even he understood that the Second Amendment was never intended as a means for ordinary citizens to stockpile any type of ordinance they wished to have.