Zackey Rahimi, the Texas criminal defendant challenging a federal gun law before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, said this summer that he no longer wanted to own firearms and expressed remorse for his actions that got him in trouble with the law.
“I will make sure for sure this time that when I finish my time being incarcerated to stay the faithful, righteous person I am this day, to stay away from all drugs at all times, do probation & parole rightfully, to go to school & have a great career, have a great manufacturing engineering job, to never break any law again, to stay away from the wrong circle, to stay away from all firearms & weapons, & to never be away from my family again,” Rahimi, who is being held at a Fort Worth jail, said in a handwritten letter dated July 25.
He continued: “I had firearms for the right reason in our place to be able to protect my family at all times especially for what we’ve went through in the past but I’ll make sure to do whatever it takes to be able to do everything the right pathway & to be able to come home fast as I can to take care of my family at all times.”
It doesn’t matter. If the SC upholds the law (which is unlikely) the gun lobby will simply find someone more acceptable, and under slightly different circumstances, and bring up another challenge. They’ll keep going after gun laws the way the anti-choice side relentlessly attacked Roe.
I mean, this particular gun law violates the 14A, so it’s good for all of us if 2A supporters go after it.
How is putting guns in the hands of known abusers a good thing to do? Why is that person’s right to a gun more important to the lives of those around him?
known abusers
Incorrect. For that to be correct, there would have to be a standard of proof. The correct term here is accused abusers.
Semantics are easy when you’re sacrificing other people’s lives.
It’s bizarre you think yourself a hero as you openly advocate putting the property of abusers over the safety of those they abuse, like temporarily losing access to firearms is a bigger tragedy than being executed by a former partner.
Are we supposed to politely ignore how that makes you look? People who hit their wives also post on social media and it shouldn’t come as a shock to people that they also tend see themselves the victim and right about everything.
You’re a big brave boy, you can handle a few months away from your beloved guns.
So you engage in sophistry to avoid an actual argument. That didn’t fly in Ancient Greece and won’t fly here.
Because the 2nd Amendment is clear and any gun law is an infringement of the right.
The second amendment is not clear and has been given the broadest possible interpretation. Are you a member of a well-regulated militia?
Not well regulated but yes I am part of the militia. Well regulated means well supplied. The militia is everyone able-bodied in the US.
Wow you just make up words now and say they mean whatever you want?
Regulated and Regimented are more synonymous that whatever you are talking about.
No. Well regulated meant in working order which is why people who owned weapons had to register them and have them inspected. Do you have yours registered with the government? When was the last time you had them inspected by the government to make sure you can defend the US as art of the militia?
for the purposes of a well regulated militia
Yeah we don’t have those anymore chief. We have this thing called a military instead and I already saw your “everyone is a part of the militia” opinion, that’s some straight up bullshit.
- I never agreed to be in one so I’m definitely not.
- how the fuck can you possibly well regulate a militia with ~10 million people?
“(a)The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard” https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/246#:~:text=(a)The,the National Guard
Sooo really sounds like only men between 17 and 45 or women in the national guard get the right to a firearm per the writing of the constitution.
Yeah, which is sexist as fuck so tbh I don’t prefer that interpretation, and do 17yos really need to be able to pass NICs checks? Like, rn they can have one if a parent buys it for them, but to expand that seems…iffy at best…
I think I mentioned my favorite part but to reiterate, once you hit 45 you just lose the right to own a gun. Really doesn’t sound like freedom to arms to me.
Yeah also there’s no gay marriage in there so we should ban that, abortion, medical transitioning…
Yeah I’m not the biggest fan of the literalist interpretation. Seems like playing with fire. Furthermore as you’ve pointed out quite succinctly, the literalist interpretation is silly as fuck.
Militia is to conscripted military member as jury pool is to petit jury.
It doesn’t fucking matter. The right is not for a militia. The right is for all the people to bear arms.
And well regulated meant well supplied. The militia has plenty of guns when the militia is the people and the people have plenty of guns.
well regulated meant well supplied.
Please tell me more about what people you’ve never met defined something to be. Or preferably tell us that’s your interpretation
There are other, primary sources, that back up this interpretation. The Federalist Papers is a good starting point.
I don’t know the real answer, but it seems that defining a collective right as the second in a list of nine other individual rights doesn’t seem logical. I, personally, believe the individual right is what was intended. I also believe that over 200 years have passed and it needs to be updated. Arguing the semantics isn’t going to help anyone and simply attempting to re-interpret what’s supposed to be a living document is absurd. That being said, it would take a lot more people being a lot more rational to ever have a hope of making those changes.
Yeah, quoting the federalist papers to me is about as good as me quoting some other source that as equally invalidates that opinion.
Sure it’s a source and sure you can based an opinion on it but it’s not definitive by any means no matter how much conservatives would like to suggest otherwise.
Let me get this straight, you don’t believe that the words mean something and claim we can’t know their intent, then when offered additional context provided by some of the people who wrote the words you disagree with you dismiss it out of hand?
What would be a proper source to you then? Or do you prefer to revel in willful ignorance? Because that sounds like a pretty conservative view to me.
Read the first sentence again.
The right is solely because the founders meant for the US to rely on the militia for defense. That changed very fucking quick because the state militias were uncoordinated garbage so the federal government recognized the need for a large standing army. Militias being our main defense has not been a thing since the mid 1790s. You are a couple hundred years behind.
That’s funny, because it looks to me like the PEOPLE were guaranteed a right.
Because they thought the militia was necessary for the defense of the state. They found out that idea was wrong pretty quickly.
any gun law is an infringement of the right.
Ok, boomer
Shall not be infringed.
So you can buy any weapon in any manner of firing, including full auto or are there laws in place to prevent this?
You should be able to but there are infringements in place like the originally excessively expensive $200 tax stamp for fully automatic weapons.
Even for people with a history of gun violence? Does this also prohibit separate penalties of disarmament when someone is found guilty?
You understand how this interpretation of the law can’t have a positive effect on society right?
If they’re too dangerous to be trusted in polite society then why are they released? If they just so happen to try it in a polite society that’s well armed we won’t have to worry any longer.
So they can be infringed?
No one who has actually read the 2A has ever thought it was “clear”.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Everything to the left of it is just a justification for why that right exists. Can you tell me with a straight face that that right is not clear?
Yes.
You are either disingenuous or an idiot.
Or neither
Yes, because you are violating the rules of English grammar in your claim. As was my original point, it is impossible to claim any interpretation of the 2A without violating grammar. As a result, it can have any meaning you want, since you will make up the rules you like in order to interpret it the way you want.
You know that half the states had restrictions (no open carry, concealed carry, registration, etc) when the 2nd Amendment was passed and continued to have those restrictions after, right? For something being so clear, a good portion of the states sure misunderstood it…or maybe it’s you that does.
It’s much easier to just argue that a “well regulated militia” means “morbidly obese with neither training nor discipline”.
It’s why they never have any other skills that would be useful in a war, like establishing ad hoc communication networks, piloting a drone, field medicine, even working as a team.
Their entire contribution would just be “have gun” and if their staunch opposition to wearing masks in a pandemic is anything to go by, they wouldn’t even offer their country that.
Do you have a source?
Also, for some time it was interpreted that the constitution was only a limitation on the federal government and not state governments iirc
The only “restriction” there are relevant to control was registration. But that wasn’t to control that was to require you had at least one weapon. If your job requires you have steel-toed boots, that doesn’t limit your ownership of other boots.
You don’t consider safe storage laws, banning open and concealed carry, and loyalty oaths to fall under gun control? If not, then 👍.
You would have to register all your guns and they were inspected to make sure at least one was in working order. That is if you owned a gun. Some states did require you to own one unless you feel under one of the myriad of exemptions they allowed.
But yeah, if you don’t consider those things control, I’m largely fine with your level of what most would consider control.
Of course he will say all that while incarcerated and trying to get out on good behavior.
And he is NOT dropping the suit for what, “exactly”?
Whoever paid for his lawyers won’t let him.
