Posted on 05/05/2015 8:26:25 AM PDT by HammerT
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision on last week allowing a Chicago-area gun and magazine ban to stand. Such bans are justifiable, according to the court, merely on the basis that they “may increase the public’s sense of safety.”
The case, Friedman v. Highland Park, was filed in 2013, and sought to invalidate a city ordinance that banned “assault weapons or large capacity magazines (those that can accept more than ten rounds).”
[..]
Remarkably, the majority went on to suggest that even if the ban’s incursion on Second Amendment rights had no beneficial effect on safety whatsoever, it could still be justified on the basis of the false sense of security it might impart to local residents. “[I]f it has no other effect,” the majority wrote, “Highland Park’s ordinance may increase the public’s sense of safety. Mass shootings are rare, but they are highly salient, and people tend to overestimate the likelihood of salient events.”
The majority acknowledged that “assault weapons” can be beneficial for self-defense because they are lighter and more accurate than alternative options and can be wielded more effectively by householders. Yet they quickly threw their own logic aside to reassert the city’s interest in reducing perceived risk over the tangible benefits that that modern firearms provide to their owners. “If a ban on semiautomatic guns and large-capacity magazines reduces the perceived risk from a mass shooting, and makes the public feel safer as a result, that’s a substantial benefit,” the opinion argued.
Judge Daniel Anthony Manion dissented from the majority opinion.
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Judge Manion’s reminder that when it comes to our fundamental rights, “The government recognizes these rights; it does not confer them,” cannot be overemphasized.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
“merely on the basis that they “may increase the public’s sense of safety.”
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
Judge Daniel Anthony Manion dissented from the majority opinion. [..] Judge Manion’s reminder that when it comes to our fundamental rights, “The government recognizes these rights; it does not confer them,” cannot be overemphasized.
I have written at length on FR about the difference between rights and privileges, and the two types of law that deal with them respectively, and how the latter is being swapped for the former. So far, FReepers haven't shown interest in exploring this line of thought.
The problem is that the Democrats are fascinated by it and obsessed with it. Every single time the Court hands down an outrage that mystifies everyone, or Congress rapes the Constitution and the screaming begins, the exact same damn thing is being done - administrative privileges are being swapped for constitutional rights.
Conservatives need to face reality - this is HOW the country is being destroyed. The longer it is ignored, the worse the damage will be. Is that simple, and that unavoidable. It can't be stopped until it is acknowledged.
Stop being so micro-aggressive! /s
I’d like to thank the 7th Circuit Court for it’s ruling on this. Thank them from the bottom of my heart actually.
I am really looking forward to Justice Scalia’s forthcoming majority opinion blowing it to Hell and gone.
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