Nerd Rant I: History

This past week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Washington DC ban on handguns was unconstitutional. That, in and of itself wasn't really that big of a deal. Supreme Court rules on guns, said the headlines, more at 11. The blogs on the internet were all over it, but the vast majority of people missed the boat- which is kind of sad, but it's a truth of American society today: the Supreme Court is one of the most overlooked branches of our government.

Well, it's pretty much the most overlooked branch of our government. I think it has something to do with the fact that, sensibly, the Supreme Court doesn't allow cameras in their chambers. There's no drama. There's no footage to show on Nancy Grace or Court TV- and so, the judiciary seems a little remote to a lot of Americans. Naturally, when the Supreme Court rules on something that pisses people off, cries of that tiresome old chestnut 'judicial activism' ring to the rafters (and isn't it funny how those cries tend to come from different quarters depending on who's pissed off?)

But people seemed to have missed the boat this week. The law blogs (Volokh, Scotus, Althouse and company) offered enough analysis to send even the most dedicated law nerd into a coma. But the implications seemed to have been lost on a lot of people: history happened this week. HISTORY. An actual watershed moment in American history- probably the most important Supreme Court case of my lifetime and nobody noticed.

Yes, the Supreme Court ruled that the DC gun ban was unconstitutional. But that wasn't the big deal. Rather it was what the Supreme Court clarified in that ruling. Let's be clear- the Second Amendment says this:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

And the Supreme Court said for the first time ever that individuals have the right to bear arms. Individuals. For the FIRST TIME EVER. That may not seem like a big deal, because people probably assumed that they had an individual right to bear arms all along, but if you read the Amendment that's not clear at all. And now it is.

History made. People should notice now and again. It doesn't happen all that often.