Montana, the Second Amendment and D.C. v. Heller
Explanation for this page:
The United States Supreme Court is considering the case of D.C. v. Heller, the first case in 70 years in which the Court will squarely
address the meaning of the Second Amendment. A core question
is whether the Second Amendment secures an individual right to keep and
bear arms, or if it merely protects a right for the states to arm their
National Guards, known as the "collective rights" theory.
Many entities have submitted amicus briefs, but Montana has not been
able to submit an amicus concerning the states' contract argument
because of time and cost (mostly cost - some of the briefs already submitted in Heller are reputed to have cost over $ 1million).
The
purpose of this argument is to demonstrate that if the Court
should decide that the Secondment Amendment to be a "collective right" that
position will open a can of worms concerning states, and concerning
contracts.
Relevant documents:
The Resolution concurred in by many elected Montana officials is HERE.
The argument about Montana's contract and the Second Amendment is HERE.
The list of officials concurring individually (last updated 03/06/08) in this Resolution is HERE.
Montana Secretary of State Brad Johnson's 2/19/08 letter in the Washington Times is HERE.
Montana Shooting Sports Association's 2/19/08 News Release on this topic is HERE.
This issue in the news:
Washington Times story, 2/25/08 HERE.
W. Times story on United Press International 02/25/08 HERE.
The Shooting Wire story, 02/25/08 HERE.
World Net Daily story, 02/20/2008 HERE.
Reason story, 02/20/08 HERE.
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Briefs in re Heller submitted by various parties HERE.