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Webleymkv · January 15, 2012, 04:55 PM

Remember, every law is presumed to be constitutional until the courts say otherwise. There are a few cases which address this very issue making their way through the courts as we speak and the two in IL look rather promising.

Also, remember that the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment are not unlimited rights. The Supreme Court excplicitly said in their opinion in Heller that some regulation is Constitutional. For example, few people would argue that it is unconstitutional to prohibit people who have been convicted of certain crimes (most notably violent crimes) from purchasing and owning firearms. Unfortunately, SCOTUS did not explicitly say which regulations are permissable and which aren't . Hashing out which firearms laws are Constitutional and which aren't is a process which will have to work its way through the courts and will almost undoubtedly take years to complete, if it's ever completed at all.

While this can be frustrating, there is actually a very good reason for it. Part of the checks and balances system of our government is dividing power between the three branches of government. The legislative and executive branches have the power to make law but have no power to interpret the Constitution unless they change the Constitution itself through the amendment process (an incredibly difficult feat which is why it's only happened 27 times in over 200 years) The Judicial branch conversely has great power in that they can strike down any law brought before them as unconstitutional, but they have now power to make law and can only rule upon issues which are brought before them.

The Judicial Branch, and the Supreme Court in particular, is rather unique in that it is both the most powerful and most powerless branch of government. It is the most powerful in that short of a Constitutional Amendment, the word of SCOTUS is final and SCOTUS Justices are appointed for life and thus not subject to the ebb and flow of political tides. It is the most powerless in that the Supreme Court cannot simply strike down what they percieve to be a bad law as soon as it is passed, they can only do so if someone takes enough issue with the law to bring forth litigation and work it through all of the various circuit and appeals courts. All nine Justices can percieve a law to be the greatest threat to the Republic since 1861, but if no one else takes issue with the law there isn't much they can do about it.

January 15, 2012, 04:55 PM	#3
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	Remember, every law is presumed to be constitutional until the courts say otherwise. There are a few cases which address this very issue making their way through the courts as we speak and the two in IL look rather promising. Also, remember that the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment are not unlimited rights. The Supreme Court excplicitly said in their opinion in Heller that some regulation is Constitutional. For example, few people would argue that it is unconstitutional to prohibit people who have been convicted of certain crimes (most notably violent crimes) from purchasing and owning firearms. Unfortunately, SCOTUS did not explicitly say which regulations are permissable and which aren't . Hashing out which firearms laws are Constitutional and which aren't is a process which will have to work its way through the courts and will almost undoubtedly take years to complete, if it's ever completed at all. While this can be frustrating, there is actually a very good reason for it. Part of the checks and balances system of our government is dividing power between the three branches of government. The legislative and executive branches have the power to make law but have no power to interpret the Constitution unless they change the Constitution itself through the amendment process (an incredibly difficult feat which is why it's only happened 27 times in over 200 years) The Judicial branch conversely has great power in that they can strike down any law brought before them as unconstitutional, but they have now power to make law and can only rule upon issues which are brought before them. The Judicial Branch, and the Supreme Court in particular, is rather unique in that it is both the most powerful and most powerless branch of government. It is the most powerful in that short of a Constitutional Amendment, the word of SCOTUS is final and SCOTUS Justices are appointed for life and thus not subject to the ebb and flow of political tides. It is the most powerless in that the Supreme Court cannot simply strike down what they percieve to be a bad law as soon as it is passed, they can only do so if someone takes enough issue with the law to bring forth litigation and work it through all of the various circuit and appeals courts. All nine Justices can percieve a law to be the greatest threat to the Republic since 1861, but if no one else takes issue with the law there isn't much they can do about it.