In NJ
A New Jersey appeals court has concluded that Americans have no Second Amendment right to buy a handgun.
Whoa! That goes against Heller. Oh, that’s right, they didn’t exactly rule that. What they actually ruled was that NJ’s onerous licensing scheme (which can deny you a firearm because some police chief doesn’t like you) was not affected by Heller. And noted that Heller did not strike down a gun ban but told DC to give a permit. Seems to me that requiring the permit did end the ban.
This is one of the issues with Heller. The Heller team wanted a win on the simple question of whether or not there is an individual right to arms. As such, the case was very narrowly focused. And pretty much opened up all sorts of room for legal maneuvering. I think once the Chicago case is concluded, this will change.
Yes, Heller was a win. But there’s plenty more to be done. And smart guys like Alan Gura are doing those things.
October 29th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Technically speaking, NJ’s law is shall-issue. The Chief needs to have articulable reasons you’re not a fit person. He can’t just say he doesn’t like you. I do think this clause offers too much discretion, personally, but a lot of shall-issue permit laws allow this kind of narrow discretion.
I’ll have more to say on this courts ruling in a second.
October 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am
More on the case here