BobbyT said:
...An atheist who owns a piece of land can say "the terms for letting you live on it is that you don't pray here", and you'd be free to agree to those terms or tell him to shove it and part ways in peace.
.....
Or any other set of completely arbitrary rules. If you agree with them then you two can do business; if not either can walk away--that's the miracle of property rights and individual liberty...
Nope, it absolutely is not that simple.
Whether or not you like it or think it's proper, in every State, there is a large body of landlord-tenant law that among other things sets limits on what a landlord may require of a tenant. There are also federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination in the conduct of business (including the business of renting real property for residential use) on various bases, including race, religion, national origin, gender, etc.
On the other hand, except in a very few States, there is nothing preventing a landlord from imposing and enforcing a "no guns" clause in a lease.
firespectrum said:
...If all the landlords and businessowners of a community ban guns on their premesis (which is very possible in a college town) then they've effectively over-turned the 2nd ammendment in that community...
Nope, (1) as of right now, the 2nd Amendment only applies to the federal government; and (2) even if we get a favorable result in
McDonald, the 2nd Amendment, just as the rest of the Constitution, regulates the conduct only of government, not private parties.
firespectrum said:
...If a landlord cannot violate the Bill of Rights by not allowing minorities into his building...
It is meaningless to talk about a landlord violating the Bill of Rights. As a private party, the Bill of Rights does not regulate the conduct of a landlord, so there is no way anything a landlord may do can violate the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights regulates only the conduct of the federal government (and in some cases the States indirectly through incorporation by way of the 14th Amendment).
A landlord may violate a state or federal statute by not allowing minorities, but not the Bill of Rights.