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Old April 20, 2009, 03:39 PM   #12
carguychris
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Join Date: October 20, 2007
Location: Richardson, TX
Posts: 7,523
Quote:
so, they're saying that the second ammendment can't just be up and overturned by a local government?
In short, yes.

"Incorporation" is a legal doctrine by which the concepts outlined in Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment are applied to the states, and, by extension, to local municipal governments. Quoting from the amendment:
Quote:
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
This section of the Fourteenth Amendment says that the states can't take away individual rights that are granted by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. Such protected rights are "incorporated".

D.C. vs. Heller held that the Second Amendment protects a pre-existing individual right. In light of this decision, it should follow that this right is protected against infringement by the states. However, like other incorporated rights, there is a process of court precedent that must be followed to get to that point. This process is complex because no Constitutional right is unlimited. To use a classic example, the First Amendment does not give you the right to scream "FIRE!!" in a crowded theater, to incite a riot, or to threaten to kill the President. The incorporation process will include lots of give-and-take to determine what restrictions state and local governments can and cannot enact.
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