Then why is concealed carry a state issue? If RKBA is protected by the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution, how can different states have different laws? Isn't there something about constitutional due process that requires uniformity?
How can one state require registration, and others don't? Why are age limits different in each state? Why are some guns prohibited in one state but legal in another?
Are you sure that the second amendment applies to the states? Or is each state guided solely by its State Constitution?
The Second Amendment as I understand it applies to individuals, not states. It is an express Constitutional right granted to individuals, and IMHO the states are bound by it as a fundamental right granted to individuals. But as for regulation of our individual rights, and restrictions that various states have placed on those rights -- this is where I believe we have ceded huge amounts of territory from the original intent of the Founders, so much so that what we currently have in place bears little resemblance to what they had in mind.
But pragmatically, it is what it is, so we do the best we can with where we find ourselves today. The Supreme Court decisions of the past have led to the battleground for such rights being fought on a state-by-state basis, and slowly but surely, the battles in the courts have turned increasingly in favor of RKBA liberties (in most states). So even though I don't consider this the ideal, it is where we find ourselves today.
Individual rights are Constitutionally protected, and RKBA falls under that. Any law that the states pass must be Constitutional. I agree with federalist ideas in general, within the bounds of the Constitution protecting individual liberties first and foremost.
paulsen trolls:
Then why is concealed carry a state issue?
It shouldn't be. "Shall not be infringed" is a definite restriction on the State & local power to reasonably regulate arms.
If RKBA is protected by the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution, how can different states have different laws? Isn't there something about constitutional due process that requires uniformity?
You've answered your own question, bobbie. 'Equal protection' should enable us to carry in any State in the Union.
How can one state require registration, and others don't? Why are age limits different in each state? Why are some guns prohibited in one state but legal in another?
Because the US Constitution is being ignored when it comes to our RKBA's. -- Thats "why"..
Are you sure that the second amendment applies to the states?
Yes.
Or is each state guided solely by its State Constitution?
Incredible that you ask that question bobbie. Article VI and the 10th/14th Amendments are clear that States are 'guided' by both US & State Constitutions. Read much?