The 5th Circuit Court's opinion in that one case, US v Emerson, was the only case for an individual right. All other courts in all other cases ruled a collective right.
Not that I like that -- it's just a fact.
The 9th Circuit Court alone had five cases recently where they ruled a collective right, the most recent being Silveira v Lockyer (2001). The others were Fresno Rifle & Pistol Club v. Van de Kamp, 965 F. 2d 723 (9th Cir. 1992); Hickman v. Block, 81 F. 3d 998 (9th Cir. 1996), cert denied, 519 U. S. 912 (1996); San Diego County Gun Rights Committee v. Reno, 98 F. 3d 11121 (9th Cir. 1996); United States v. Mack, 164 F.3d 467, 474 (9th Cir. 1999).
Now, I can cite numerous cases from other federal courts, but it would be easier if you were to cite just one case, other than Emerson, where any federal court ruled an individual right.
Robert, have you researched this? This is why I ask, on March 28th, there will be a hearing on BATF abuses in Congress and one of the people testifying has the case information on 17 cases that have been heard in the federal courts where the individual rights argument has been upheld... It will be read into the congressional record on that date. Hopefully, CSPAN will broadcast the hearings. I don't have the case specifics handy or I'd post them all. The person in question though has put about 400 hours of time into researching the issue.
Mike
You are like one of those old philosophers from the 12th century. You look out at the horizon and see it end. Therefore, at some point the world must have an end. Therefore, it must be flat. Your entire quasi-religious ideology depends on the planet never being proven to be anything other than flat.
Building one faulty conclusion upon another does not grant you some mystical ability to suddenly have your arguments become correct.
paulsen wrote:
[The 2nd Amendment has been] "-- ruled a collective right.
Not that I like that -- it's just a fact. --"
WHETHER THE SECOND AMENDMENT SECURES AN INDIVIDUAL RIGHT
Address:http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm
----- Conclusion -----
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and to bear arms. Current case law leaves open and unsettled the question of whose right is secured by the Amendment. Although we do not address the scope of the right, our examination of the original meaning of the Amendment provides extensive reasons to conclude that the Second Amendment secures an individual right, and no persuasive basis for either the collective-right or quasi-collective-right views.
The text of the Amendment's operative clause, setting out a "right of the people to keep and bear Arms," is clear and is reinforced by the Constitution's structure. The Amendment's prefatory clause, properly understood, is fully consistent with this interpretation.
The broader history of the Anglo-American right of individuals to have and use arms, from England's Revolution of 1688-1689 to the ratification of the Second Amendment a hundred years later, leads to the same conclusion.
Finally, the first hundred years of interpretations of the Amendment, and especially the commentaries and case law in the pre-Civil War period closest to the Amendment's ratification, confirm what the text and history of the Second Amendment require.