The Second Amendment’s Great Election Night, by David Kopel

[Paladin]

http://newledger.com/2010/11/the-second-amendments-great-election-night/

Some key quotes IMO:

* the stage has been set for constructive reforms in 2011

* U.S. Senate: . . . a gain of +6 votes on Second Amendment issues.

* In not a single U.S. Senate seat did the gun control lobby gain ground.

* There are now enough votes in the Senate to defeat a filibuster on pro-gun bills.

* In the new Congress that takes office in 2011, all judicial nominations will have to be resubmitted. The chance of anti-Second Amendment law professor Goodwin Liu taking a seat on the 9th Circuit now appear slim.

* The Second Amendment continues to hang by a single vote in the Supreme Court

* U.S. House: . . . a strong, bipartisan pro-Second Amendment majority . . . has grown even larger.

* Overall, candidates endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund won 85% of their House races, and 19 of 25 Senate races.

* The results put the pro-gun side within striking distance of being able to override a presidential veto. Much more importantly, the Republican takeover puts the House leadership, and the chairmanship of every relevant House Committee, into pro-gun hands.

[Paladin]

* [T]here are now three more states (13) with explicit constitutional protection for the right to hunt and fish, plus one more (43) with explicit protection of the individual right to keep and bear arms.

* For Governors [no net change]

* In Wisconsin, a pro-rights Republican [governor] replaced a retiring Democrat who had twice vetoed concealed handgun licensing. . . . Both houses of the Wisconsin legislature went Republican last night, making it almost certain that Wisconsin will [pass Shall Issue or better].

* Republicans already had the Pennsylvania Senate, and they took the Pennsylvania House. . . . the chances for positive legislation are very good, starting with enactment of the “Castle Doctrine,” to protect the rights of crime victims to use firearms against violent attackers, and without having to retreat before using force.

* Overall, not since 1928 have the Democrats lost so many state legislative seats

* [Repubs gaining control] in North Carolina provides an opportunity to enact Castle Doctrine, . . . to fix a law that bans gun carrying during a declared “emergency” . . . and to reform a handgun licensing system . . . .

* In Texas, the odds are much improved to enact [campus carry]. . . . The passage and success of such a law in Texas, with its enormous system of state higher education, would provide a major boost to reform laws in other states.

* Since 2011 will be the redistricting year, the pro-gun gains last night will have effects for a decade to come.

* Republican gubernatorial wins in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida will likely make it more difficult for President Obama to carry those crucial states in 2012, and without them, he has no realistic path to re-election.

[pitchbaby]

Good news for the rest of the U.S., but it seems Kalifornia will fall deeper into the abyss of anti 2A leadership.

Let's pray Calguns can finish what it's started! Go Calguns!

[wash]

It's a nice article but do you have permission to post it in it's entirety?

Lately there has been a push for a link with a short quote unless permission is explicitly granted by the author.

[tiki]

What caught my attention was where Sotomayor voted to overturn Heller. When was there a vote like that and are we really just one justice away from having Heller and McDonald tossed?

[Paladin]

It's a nice article but do you have permission to post it in it's entirety?

Lately there has been a push for a link with a short quote unless permission is explicitly granted by the author.

Good point. I'll go back and just cut out a few choice (IMO) quotes.

[yellowfin]

No need to worry, Mr Kopel is one of us. I highly doubt he minds.

[Paladin]

No need to worry, Mr Kopel is one of us. I highly doubt he minds.

True, but I still cut it waaaay down in case his publisher might mind.

If the Mods think I should cut it down more, please just post such and PM me and I'll cut it down (or paraphrase) even more.

[huck]

Thanks for posting this.

[Purple K]

The pendulum is swinging our way and it's picking up speed. We can win California in the Courts instead of the Capitol

[rabagley]

Caveat: Smith is drug war zealot, and has pushed numerous anti-drug proposals which have harmed the entire Bill of Rights. The war on guns and the war on drugs have always reinforced each other. Use of the federal tax power in the 1930s as a pretext to create federal laws over local criminal issues was tried with the National Firearms Act of 1934, and then expanded to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1938. Conversely, use of the interstate commerce power to criminalize purely intrastate possession and use of an item was the product of the Gun Control Act of 1968, followed by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

The whole “assault weapon” panic of 1989 never would have turned into a major issue for the next fifteen years if not for Republican Drug “Czar” William Bennett linking it to the drug war. Constitutionalists should be very wary of any new bill from Rep. Smith to expand federal criminal powers beyond their already-excessive scope, a scope which is far beyond proper constitutional boundaries.

It is so frustrating to see so many gun owners enthusiastically support drug prohibition, while at the same time complaining about gun control laws and attitudes. Don't even get me started about the costs of imprisoning those who commit victimless crimes (possession, etc.).

Both attitudes come from the same place and the same kind of "big brother knows better" thinking.

David Kopel gets it and in a big way. Full props.

[MSO4MATT]

The pendulum is swinging our way and it's picking up speed. We can win California in the Courts instead of the Capitol

Wait we just got Jerry Brown...I'm sure the gun freedom will flow like a river now, right?

[stag1500]

Wait we just got Jerry Brown...I'm sure the gun freedom will flow like a river now, right?

Well, at least anti-gun legislation will be stalled. That's a HUGE improvement over what we've had here in California over the last 10 years.

[Dreaded Claymore]

What caught my attention was where Sotomayor voted to overturn Heller. When was there a vote like that and are we really just one justice away from having Heller and McDonald tossed?

I didn't see that the first time through. When and how did this vote take place? Why haven't we heard about it? I am scared!

[press1280]

I didn't see that the first time through. When and how did this vote take place? Why haven't we heard about it? I am scared!

I think they're referring to McDonald(a 5-4 decision). I'd have to read the particulars, but I think its a little fuzzy that it was a vote to overturn Heller(however I don't doubt she would). From what I understand, Chicago wasn't asking for Heller to be overturned, which basically led to Chicago's attorney being destroyed by SCOTUS. Judge Kennedy's line said basically "If you don't think the 2A is fundamental, then Heller must be wrong," and Roberts' line about Chicago's attorney trying the same argument that was shot down in Heller.