"The right of a citizen to bear arms, in lawful defense of himself or the State, is absolute. He does not derive it from the State government. It is one of the high powers delegated directly to the citizen,and is excepted out of the general powers of government. A law cannot be passed to infringe upon or impair it, because it is above the law, and independent of the lawmaking power."
Cockrum v. State (1859)
- Too bad historical case law in the area of the 2nd Amendment is such a clusterfuck. I've read decisions where the judges talk about the Constitution "granting" rights. They can't even get the basic concept of inalienable & pre-existing rights correct and yet they're sitting on the bench.
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2 comments:
That is a great quote, and you are absolutely correct.
I'm no judge, but my 1st grade teacher taught me that the constitution was written to grant powers to the government, not rights to citizens.
Rights are the thingies we are all born with.
You would think that anyone who's read historical documents written by the founders (even just the Declaration of Independence) would understand the basic concept of rights.
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