[goldstategop]

I love it how liberals complain about judicial activism when the courts rule AGAINST them. Anyway, the Brady Group is dead wrong - the rights of the people cannot be countermanded by the electorate. They admit of no popularity contest or the received opinion of the day. Liberals cannot ban guns outright because that would be popular or because they think guns no longer have a place in American society. The Constitution protects gun rights as nearly absolutely under the Second Amendment as it protects freedom of speech rights under the First Amendment.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[sig226]

The second amendment is actually more absolute than the first. The first amendment begins, "Congress shall make no law respecting . . ." with the obvious intent that the states were left out of it. At the time, the founders believed that state constitutions had sufficent safeguards against state intrusions.

The second amendment says, ". . . the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The difference is important - the scope of the second amendment was not limited to any particular government.