As gun owners ponder what an appointment of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor means to Second Amendment rights, at least one of her decisions points to her being a foe rather than a friend.
In a January ruling, Sotomayor says that the landmark Heller ruling that declared the Second Amendment a personal right applied only to the federal government and not to the states nor local governments
This ruling is in sharp contrast to another circuit ruling declaration that says the Second Amendment applies to the states and local governments as well as the federal government. After all, this logic says, the Heller suit involved Washington D.C. and not the U.S. Justice Department.
It's almost seems as if the federal judge also would imply that the First Amendment rights to a free press and religious beliefs impacts the federal government alone and does not also apply to the states and local governments.
Pro-Second Amendment advocates believes that the contrasting rulings means that the Supreme Court will again likely hear the issue - the same court that will probably have Sotomayor as a resident.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
jfrischkorn@news-herald.com
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