At NRO, Charles C. W. Cooke: Even Obama Understands the Second Amendment (sharply criticizing this article by Austin Sarat). He writes:
… [B]oth legally and politically, Obama is proceeding far more sensibly than is Sarat, whose stated view of the Second Amendment is utterly farcical. How farcical? Consider: In order to argue with a straight face that the right to keep and bear arms is inextricably linked with “service in an organized and sanctioned militia,” you would have to believe the following unbelievable things: 1) that the Founders’ intent in codifying the Second Amendment was to protect the right of individuals to join an organization over which the federal government has constitutionally granted plenary power; 2) that unlike every other provision in the Bill of Rights — and every other constitutional measure that is wrapped in the “right of the people” formulation — the Second Amendment denotes something other than an individual right that can be asserted against the state; and 3) that every major judicial figure of the era was mistaken as to its meaning — among them, Joseph Story, William Rawle, St. George Tucker, Timothy Farrar, and Tench Coxe, all of whom explained the Second Amendment perfectly clearly — whereas a few judges and politicians in the 20th century have been bang on in their comprehension.
Plus some key quotes from this hard-hitting post by Nicholas Johnson.
Posted at 6:30 AM