"We may have already seen an example of that. Ashcroft just recently changed the governments "policy" to one of individual right, which kept (I forget the case, think it was an appeals court in Louisiana I think, restraining order violation) from being appealed."
That would be the "Emerson" case out of Texas, which was appealed to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans. The 5th Circuit ruled that the 2d Amendment was an individual right.
Yes. Well, the government was on the collective right side of the issue, and had promised to appeal any decision away from that position to the supremes, which would have nailed the issue at the Supreme Court level.
Ashcroft changed the position as an administration "policy" statement and avoided an appeal. If he would have appealed, the issue would have been settled, and most federal laws regulating firearms under Art 1, Sec 8 Cl 3, and many state laws, would have vanished. The "policy" change can be reversed at any time by this or any other administration, whereas a SC ruling would have taken a constitutional amendment repealing the 2nd.
