Antipitas said:
Um Gary? The 5th Circuit with Emerson in 2001 ruled the 2A is an individual right... We are still waiting for the Supreme Court to resolve the split between the 5th and the 9th.
The 5th Circuit ruled in favor of the individual right in
Emerson, nicely shooting gaping holes in the collectivist theory. The 9th Circus... er.. Circuit has supported the collectivist theory. The 9th Circuit, historically, has been the
most overturned appellate court in the country. IIRC, the 2nd Circuit in NY/CT/VT has also supported the collectivst theory too.
I'm dubious of the outcome of the D.C. case, however I would love to be pleasantly surprised. If the D.C. court upholds the 2nd Amendment, it may find a way to NOT strike down the D.C. handgun prohibition, leaving that to other courts.
If SCOTUS finally resolves the matter in favor of the classic interpretation of the 2nd Amendment (i.e. an individual right) there will be two more steps to complete. First will be incorporation of the 2nd under the 14th Amendment (extending the BoR to the states), making it protected even against the argument of a State's power to pass its own laws.
Second will be determining the scope of "infringed". Certainly waiting-periods are an infringement. So would requiements to purchase any sort of special ID card to exercise the right (CA/IL/MA/NY etc). Does a state law prohibiting you from having a rifle with a 20-round magazine "infringe" on your rights? Does a state law prohibiting the sale of a handgun without certain features (chamber indicator, locks, etc.) infringe? Do conflicting state laws, as a whole, infringe? Can ownership of machine guns be prohibited?
If we do get a victory, I would anticipate the anti-gun states suddenly increasing their scrutiny of FFLs and making a big deal out of the smallest errors in an effort to limit the number of sources. FFL dealers would be wise to make sure their paperwork is squeaky clean.