I'm betting the court wanted to ban semi-auto "assault" weapons, and picked a rationalization that would get popular support.
This fits right in with the rulings steering 4th Amendment issues toward privacy. Part of the privacy analysis is whether society would recognize a privacy interest in such-and-such. If not, then its not protected by the 4A.
This is what happens when Demoncraps (and some Republican judges) attempt to legislate from the bench. Here's their train of thought:
Idea ---> Idealist Platform ---> Cherry-Picking ---> Tenuous, Inaccurate, and often un-Constitutional Actions ---> Death of a Nation
Here's a thought: Start with the Constitution:
Constitution ---> the supreme Law of the Land ---> accurate Federal Law ---> accurate Executive and Judicial decisions ---> Health of a Nation
Of course, the courts are set up as the high priests with miraculous ability to determine what each of millions of people would be willing to recognize as a legitimate privacy concern. The worst part is their method of analysis makes the 4A subject to democracy, when the whole point of rights is to take them off the table as policy considerations.
Agreed. Sage analysis. Fortunately, the courts have a number of checks and balances, including guiding legislation, the appeal system, changes in legislation (amnesty), and governor clemency (pardons - both full and reprieve)
Same for the ruling in the OP. The court just made that piece of the 2A subject to democracy.
Well, they've tried. We'll see how the checks and balances pan out. In the meantime:
From the opinion: "If a ban on semi‐automatic guns and large‐capacity magazines reduces the perceived risk from a mass shooting, and makes the public feel safer as a result, that’s a substantial benefit."
When judges make decisions based on perception instead of reality, they've already taken leave of their senses. Merely by rendering such a grossly-un-Constitutional decision, Judge John W. Darrah calls into question his fitness for duty. His inclusion of wording placing perception on higher footing than reality underscores this point. When he attempted to
claim (p. 3) "How weapons are sorted between private and military uses has changed over time," he reveals his complete lack of misunderstanding of the nature and intent of the Second Amendment, where "arms" referred to all arms, not just firearms, and makes no distinction whatsoever between military and civilian arms. Law-abiding citizens are equally responsible with a .22 LR target plinker as they are with a .50 caliber sniper rifle. In fact, history proves they're the best determinators of what they need and can handle. Most gun owners either don't feel comfortable owning a sniper rifle, but they have no problem owning pistols, shotguns, and hunting rifles. I've fired a Browning M2, but I'm about to go out and purchase one. I'd like a good 30-06 or .038, though.
The judge also fails to understand the basic premise of reality: Reality is inevitable. Refusing to accept this fact is no better than an ostrich burying its head in the sand when faced with a predator. The ostrich will still die, regardless of what it "perceives."
Judge John W. Darrah's most serious foul-up, however, enters with his finding that "the passage of time creates an easement across the Second Amendment" (
pp. 3-4) That's so incredibly farcical all belief in any system of law and order must be completely suspended to even begin down that road. With that argument we could simply ignore the Constitution in its entirety after a couple of decades due to "the passage of time." At this statement, Judge Darrah's sanity is no longer merely questionable. He's certifiably wacko, and reading through the rest of his blithering idiocy, one might conclude he's yet another uber-liberal Democrat from Chicago.
"Born in Chicago ... Darrah was nominated by President Bill Clinton to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois" (
Source)
My God, who'd have thought...
The author of the decision referenced the (fictional) James Bond and his (fictional) preference for handguns in the decision. This makes me seriously question his mental state and continued fitness to sit on the bench of any court in this nation, much less one of the last stops before getting to the Supreme Court.
That and about thirty other comments he made in his
finding. The fruitcake is a prime example of why our Founding Fathers saw fit to provide means of removing judges from the bench: "The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.. (Article III, Section 1). Judge Darrah's flagrant violation of the Constitution constitutes a heinous violation of his oath of office, and very bad behavior. If he does not immediately resign, he needs to be removed without delay.