Newsgroups: talk.politics.guns
From: [c--am--r] at [optilink.dsccc.com] (Clayton Cramer)
Subject: Re: Second Amendment - a collective right
Date: Tue, 12 Jul 1994 00:54:09 GMT

Willow thw <[willowt h w] at [aol.com]> wrote:
>[c--am--r] at [optilink.dsccc.com] (Clayton Cramer) writes:
>>Isn't it odd that almost every state supreme court and U.S. Supreme
>>Court ruling doesn't share this understanding?  The state supreme
>>courts have, in almost every case, recognized this as an INDIVIDUAL
>>right.
>
>This is not true.  I challenge you to cite me a majority of state supreme
>court decisions that have held that the Second Amendment is individual.

You asked for it.  The following is a list of state supreme court 
decisions that have, when an individual appealed to the Second 
Amendment's protections, the court, rather than deny an individual 
right was protected, did one of the following:

1. Struck down a gun control law;

2. Claimed that the Second Amendment was only was a limitation on the 
federal government with respect to individual rights, but did not 
restrict state laws;

3. Claimed the Second Amendment only restricted the federal government,
but struck down a law based on a state RKBA provision;

4. Found some other basis for upholding a law, without denying the
claim that the Second Amendment protected an individual right;

5. Found that the Second Amendment protected an individual right,
but found some method to harmonize a gun control law based on the
idea that this was "reasonable regulation," or that the weapons
regulated were not protected.  In short, they refused to make this
silly claim that the Second Amendment doesn't protect an individual
right.

NOTE BENE: I do NOT claim that every decision on the list below
found an absolute right to keep and bear arms, or an unlimited
right.  In some of the decisions, the court has clearly found a
way to avoid directly striking down a law by one of the items
listed 2-5 above.

I have also excluded a number of appellate court decisions -- but
about as many from all three lists below.  I also haven't included
any of the federal decisions, most of which acknowledge explicitly
or implicitly that the Second Amendment protects an individual
right.

Aymette v. State, 2 Hump. (21 Tenn.) 154 (1840)
State v. Newsom, 5 Iredell 181, 27 N.C. 250 (1844)
Nunn v. State, 1 Ga. 243 (1846)
State v. Chandler, 5 La. An. 489 (1850)
Smith v. State, 11 La. An. 633 (1856)
State v. Jumel, 13 La. An. 399 (1858)
Cockrum v. State, 24 Tex. 394 (1859)
Andrews v. State, 3 Heisk. (50 Tenn.) 165 (1871)
Fife v. State, 31 Ark. 455, 25 Am. Rep. 556 (1876)
English v. State, 35 Tex. 473 (1872)
State v. Duke, 42 Tex. 455 (1875)
State v. Hill, 53 Ga. 472 (1874)
State v. Wilforth, 74 Mo. 528 (1881)
State v. Workman, 35 W.Va. 367 (1891)
In Re Brickey, 8 Ida. 597, 70 Pac. 609, 101 Am. St. Rep. 215 (1902)
Strickland v. State, 137 Ga. 1, 72 S.E. 260 (1911)
People v. Persce, 204 N.Y. 397 (1912)
State v. Keet, 269 Mo. 206, 190 S.W. 573 (1916)
State v. Kerner, 181 N.C. 574, 107 S.E. 222 (1921)
State v. Nieto, 101 Ohio St. 409, 130 N.E. 663 (1920)
State v. Woodward, 58 Ida. 385, 74 P.2d 92 (1937)
State v. Hart, 66 Ida. 217, 157 P.2d 72 (1945)
Watson V. Stone, 4 So.2d 700 (Fla. 1941)
People v. Liss, 406 Ill. 419, 94 N.E.2d 320 (1950)
State v. Nickerson, 126 Mont. 157 (1952)
In re Rameriz, 193 Cal. 633, 226 P. 914 (1924)
Application of Grauling, 17 Misc.2d 215, 183 N.Y.S.2d 654 (1959)
Burton v. Sills, 99 N.J.Super. 459 (1968)
Grimm v. City of New York, 56 Misc.2d 525, 289 N.Y.S.2d 358 (1968)
Guida v. Dier, 84 Misc.2d 110, 375 N.Y.S.2d 826 (1975)
Rinzler v. Carson, 262 So.2d 661 (Fla. 1972)
Mosher v. City of Dayton, 48 Ohio St.2d 243, 358 N.E.2d 540 (1976)
Kellogg v. City of Gary, 462 N.E.2d 685 (Ind. 1990)
State v. Kessler, 289 Or. 359 (1980)
City Of Princeton v. Buckner, 377 S.E.2d 139, 142, 143 (W.Va. 1988)

The following decisions strongly implied that an individual right was
protected by the Second Amendment:

State v. Angelo, 3 N.J.Misc. 1014, 130 A. 458 (1925)
State v. Sanne, 116 N.H. 583, 364 A.2d 630 (1976)
Rabbitt v. Leonard, 36 Conn. Sup. 108 (1979)

The following state supreme court decisons have denied the Second 
Amendment protects an individual right:

State v. Buzzard, 4 Ark. 18 (1842)
Harris v. State, 432 P.2d 929 (Nev. 1967)
State v. Vlacil, 645 P.2d 677 (Utah 1982) (but see Justice Oaks'
	concurring opinion)
Commonwealth v. Davis, 343 N.E.2d 847 (Mass. 1976)
Application of Atkinson, 291 N.W.2d 396 (Minn. 1980)
-- 
Clayton E. Cramer {uunet,pyramid}!optilink!cramer  My opinions, all mine!
"What do you mean I can't take a leave of absence to overthrow the government?
What sort of cheap-skate company is this?"