Word: gunning
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...briefs on both sides. Inside, the argument before the Court hinged on the justices' interpretation of the 27-word sentence that has been scrutinized all the way down to its puzzling syntax. The critical question for the justices was whether the language confers an individual right to own a gun in addition to providing for "a well regulated Militia...
...gun-control advocates, the hearing's most ominous sign was Dellinger's reception from Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Court's fulcrum, who clearly pivoted toward a more expansive reading of the amendment. Like Scalia, he decoupled its two clauses, arguing that the state's right to maintain a militia did not imply that individuals did not also have a right to defend themselves in their homes. "The amendment says we reaffirm the right to have a militia," Kennedy said, "but in addition, there is a right to bear arms." Kennedy's crucial swing vote would tip the scales in favor...
...Court's ruling is likely to breathe life into it. The question is how they will tackle the thorny issue of how far individual gun rights extend. "If they say it's an individual right but D.C.'s statute is permissible under the Second Amendment, then the Second Amendment won't have much practical effect," says Lund. "The D.C. statutes are essentially an attempt to disarm the civilian population. If that's permissible, then what...
Though the decision is likely to provide fresh ammunition for pro-gun forces, gun-control lobbyists are conceding little. Establishing an individual right to possess guns could amount to "more of a symbolic victory for the pro-gun community than a victory with great practical significance," says Dennis Henigan, vice president for law and policy at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. He notes that while the majority of justices "expressed skepticism" about D.C.'s gun laws, "there certainly did not appear to be a majority for establishing a constitutional standard that would call into question the validity...
...More palpable are the after-effects of a nationwide weapons ban between 2003 and 2005. Some 88% of Sao Paulo's homicides are committed with guns, and the federal restriction on arms sales - short-lived though it was, after having been voted down in a referendum - meant less weapons were being sold openly. The effects were especially acute in Sao Paulo, where the state government had already stopped automatically renewing gun permits and seen the number of legally owned firearms fall from 80,000 to around...