[Roscoe]

Rick is a Constitutional ignoramus.

"The Second Amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National government, leaving the people to look for their protection against any violation by their fellow-citizens..." -- US Supreme Court, Presser v. State of Illinois, 116 U.S. 252 (1886)

[Sloth]

"The Second Amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National government..."

Funny, the first amendment explicitly says "Congress" but the court still won't let state and local laws infringe on 1st amendment rights.

[El Gato]

"Presser" did not address the issue of whether the Second Amendment applied to the states, although the gun grabbers like to pretend it did. Your quote from "Presser" indicates that as originally passed it did not, and that is still (in 1886) does not apply to deprivation of the RKBA by private citizens, and such protection is the resposibility of the states, if they choose so choose. (Extending the quote just a mite). However since the issue of whether it now applies to the states, through the 14th amendment, was not addressed. The quote would seem to imply that the second only applies to the second amendment, but that is mere dicta, since it was not necessary to the decision that it did not apply to actions of private citizens.

[rwfromkansas]

So you mean it is now Constitutional for the local governments to abuse Constitutioal rights? Wonder when that happened.

[SirAllen]

"The Second Amendment declares that it shall not be infringed, but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National government, leaving the people to look for their protection against any violation by their fellow-citizens..." -- US Supreme Court, Presser v. State of Illinois, 116 U.S. 252 (1886)

Well, if this is true then what the heck is the Brady Bill and the so-called "Assault Rifle Ban" legislation? Because they sure infringe on my rights, I run into them all the time. For example, I can no longer buy a pistol that comes with the magazine designed for it, instead I have to rely on the neutered one, and this is due to ridiculous federal laws.