Third SCOTUS thread: While there's room for optimism on pending religious liberty cases, it's really, really hard to find any silver lining in the clean sweep of Second Amendment cert petitions. /1
Let's not forget that these petitions didn't just include "hard" cases like assault weapons ban, they included a challenge to a NJ law requiring a person to show a "justifiable need" before he can bear a handgun outside the home. That case shouldn't be difficult. /2
After all, the plain language of the amendment outlines a "right" to "keep and bear arms." Heller outlines a basic right to keep a gun at home for self-defense. But NJ provides no real "right" to bear a gun for self-defense. Yet cert denied anyway. /3
I get the idea that sometimes lower-court jurisprudence has to "mature" before it's ripe for SCOTUS review, but Second Amendment jurisprudence has matured for a while. And as of now the federal courts provide only the smallest protections for gun rights. /4
Gun rights are mainly defined and protected by the states, and if the federal government ever does pass broader gun control, there is presently no reason to believe SCOTUS will step in. Until SCOTUS steps up, Heller will remain sound and fury that signifies not much at all. /end
