I think Judge Kozinski just made a contribution to the 2nd Am debate. The question in _Silveira_ was/is: did Congress, in adopting the Second Amendment, waive the power to prohibit firearms possession by individuals? (leaving aside incorporation for the moment)
And the answer in _Stewart_ is: Congress was never delegated a power to prohibit firearms possession by individuals. The 9th Cir. now holds that Congress was never delegated a power to regulate firearms ownership, while paradoxically denying that the 2nd Amendment impeded a Congressional power to regulate firearms ownership. An originalist might address the above by pointing out that the Bill of Rights generally guaranteed rights that Congress was considered to have no power to infringe anyway. Either the 2nd Am guaranteed an individual right that was unextraordinary at the time, and which Congress had no power to regulate, or it constituted a re-opening of the contentious militia-power question which the Federalists had already won and previously refused to re-open. The new decision from the 9th supports the former. Norman Heath _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof
