Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Antonin Scalia, died on Saturday.

His death, for more than the election of Barack Obama, or the potential election of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, or even Michael Bloomberg is the biggest threat to guns rights in the United States, since the introduction of the Brady Bill in 1993.

No, that is not Hyperbole.

There was no greater friend to the Second Amendment on the Supreme Court than Justice Scalia.  It was Justice Scalia that gave the Opinion of the Court in District of Columbia vs. Heller.  Justice Scalia’s opinion in Heller shaped the outcome of McDonald vs. the City of Chicago, on which he voted for the majority.

Justice Scalia’s origianalism on the Second Amendment was well founded by historical prescient.  If you have the time to listen to the two hours of oral arguments in Heller, it is an amazing lesson.

The Supreme Court has been gun-shy recently, and has refused to add gun rights cases to the docket.  My fear is that in the absence of Justice Scalia, especially if (when) his seat is filled by a more liberal justice, the Supreme Court might revisit the issue of gun rights with the intent to reverse some of the more important parts of Heller and McDonald.  While it would not be likely that the Supreme Court could completely reverse the decision that gun rights are individual rights, it can chip away at gun rights significantly.  Such a decision would not be hard to do.  Simply taking on a challenge to a state level assault weapon’s ban, and deciding that the AR-15, the most popular long arm in America, is a “dangerous or unusual weapon” and “not it common use” to uphold an AWB.  Although the individual right would, technically, be maintained, the teeth to the right would be pulled.

I am not alone in this opinion, although it seems that the left is hopeful for a Scalia-free court to reverse the progress of gun rights in America.

An anti-gun Supreme Court is a far greater threat to gun rights than any president or legislator.  The politicians can be voted out of office and new politicians voted in.  But the Supreme Court holds sway for decades and generations.  With the passing of Justice Scalia we must redouble our efforts, and then redouble them again to push for gun rights.  Anti-gun legislation that does not get passed cannot go before the court to be upheld.  We can no longer rely on the Supreme Court to protect our rights.  All challenges to gun rights must be nipped in the bud.

UPDATE

I wanted to put some work into this post,  I have a great deal of respect for Justice Scalia, even if I didn’t agree with him on every decision.

My heart is broken by all the people calling Justice Scalia a bigot, a racist, or a homophobe.  It is disgusting to belittle a man who was a staunch defender of individual rights.  Justice Scalia’s dissent in Maryland v. King, on the issue of 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable search is blistering.  Justice Scalia was an ardent defender of the 1st Amendment.  His opinion in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association is a masterpiece in the defense of free speech.  Justice Scalia was famous for noting that while he didn’t like flag burning, burning the flag is a protected form of free expression.  Justice Scalia was a defender of property rights, joining the dissent in the much hated ruling in Kelo v. New London.  Lastly, his dissent in King v. Burwell is beautiful.

While I may not completely agree with Scalia’s dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges, allowing the popular culture to use it to cement Justice Scalia’s legacy is wrong and dangerous.  To listen to way so many people have been talking about Justice Scalia, one would get the impression that they were absolutely fine with the government banning books, movies, and video games, seizing your property, banning your guns, taking your DNA and searching you with a proctoscope on the side of the highway during a dubious traffic stop, and limiting your ability to complain about it, as long as the gays can marry.  On second though, that is exactly what progressives stand for, so no wonder they hate Justice Scalia.

I’m lukewarm on Jeb Bush.  I lived in Florida when he was governor and he was a pretty decent governor, but he lacks the fighting spirit that the GOP needs right now.  But that is neither here nor there at the moment.  Jeb Bush tweeted this:

OK, that’s cool.  Needs night sights though.  I assume it was a gift to the governor and not something that he had engraved for himself.

But of course, Think Progress can’t leave well enough alone, and decides to chime in with about a ton of equivocation.

We’ve been told for years that violent lyrics in Hip Hop, and violence on TV doesn’t cause crime (I agree on both points).  So how does one tweet about one gun make the Governor of a state, with his legally owned handgun, morally culpable for crimes committed by other people.  That’s right, it doesn’t.  But that doesn’t stop Think Progress from distorting all logic to make that claim.

Frankly, I wan’t my president to be a gun owner.  I want my president to have a CCW permit.  I want the chief executive of the United States, tasked with enforcing America’s gun laws (as well as all other federal laws), to have a little bit of first hand knowledge of America’s gun laws.

Also, if I were president, I would have to have a 1911 engraved with my name with the Seal of the POTUS inlaid in the grips.  I’d carry that everywhere.

I want you guys to get ready to dig in your pockets and under the couch’s cushions, one of the sweetest and hardest-working people for the Second Amendment is in trouble. Paul Lathrop from the Polite Society Podcast.

Here is what his wife posted just a while ago in Facebook:

Human Rights Advocate Paul Lathrop needs your help.

Paul is a longtime advocate of the people’s right to self-defense. He is the author of the popular Podcast “Polite Society”. Paul is about as “salt of the earth” as you can get. A truck driver and driving instructor by trade, he and his loving wife Susan are two of the finest people on the planet.

Paul Lathrop is a good guy, loyal and loving husband and a true fighter for our Second Amendment Rights. It pains me that some jackass would have the need to satisfy his half-inflated ego by calling the cops on him, but I have seen this type of behavior before.

There is the email address to send via PayPal. As soon as the GoFundMe page is up and running, I will let you guys know.

And of course, pass the word around. We need to make jackasses understand that if they come at any of us, they will raise a motherloving legion against them

“Can I say oy vey?” He replied. “I sincerely apologize for my irresponsible re-posting of such a nasty and offensive meme. In my rush between songwriting jams and musical recording frenzy, all I saw was the images of people dedicated to disarm us, I made no connection whatsoever to any religious affiliation. Everyone knows deep down that at 67 years of age I didn’t suddenly become anti-Semitic. That’s patently ridiculous, and those who rushed to such a mistaken condemning judgement should re-examine the system by which such equally irresponsible knee-jerk judgments are made.”

And you know what? Given his decades of commitment to freedom for every single person, regardless of race, color, or anything else, alarm bells should have gone off when Ted posted something so out of character. I was surprised to hear that no one, other than the Zelman Partisans (and one regional writer who put us in touch with Nugent), had made an attempt to contact him about the issue, and I asked him how he felt about supposed Second Amendment allies not bothering to contact him and clear the air.

Source: The Nuge – read before you judge | The Zelman Partisans

And I do believe Ted is not Anti Semitic. Hell, I like the guy just alone in the principle that he lives and eats a more organic life than one million Whole Food customers (and without the ‘namaste’ crap.)

But he knows he is under the magnifying glass and being careless led to his Zumbo moment. He committed the mortal sin we can barely afford to commit.

Never give the Opposition ammo they can use against the cause.

The Opposition’s mistakes get buried my the Media. Ours get amplified by ten orders of magnitude. Not fair says you? Shucks… That is our warfare, Skippy.

My only recommendation to The Nuge is to use the same care he has for the crafting of his music to what he publishes in Social Media. Other than that, the damage is done. Let’s move on.

 

I see from your plates that you’re from New Jersey.  Welcome to Florida, and it’s different here.

Source: The Abode of McThag: Positive Outcome

I know you need a smile today, go read the rest. 😀

Some nameless comedian decided to pick up a bit part in an independent film as a drug dealer’s bodyguard.  He had an Airsoft gun as a prop.  He is now in jail on gun charges.

Why?

Because New Jersey, that’s why.

(You gotta f**king problem with that!?  Whatcha looking at!?  You need me to come over there and knock you upside the head?)

I’m of two minds on this.

On the one hand, it is absolutely ridiculous.  An Airsoft gun is not a firearm.  He wasn’t using it in a threatening way to commit a crime.  So what benefit is it to the peace and tranquility of New Jersey to prosecute this guy and put him in jail?

On the other hand, every egregious and capricious anti-gun act by a state like New Jersey like this, highlights just how completely unreasonable gun laws are in states like New Jersey.  The state has become Reductio ad absurdum unto itself.  Hopefully it will begin to dawn on the good people of the petroleum refining and distribution garden state that there government is not there to help them, and they are more likely to be arrested for a toy than be protected from some law abiding citizen and his gun.