Supremes: McCain applauds, waiting on Obama...
The Supreme Court ruling today that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to bear arms is a tricky issue for Obama.
McCain is right out of the box, vociferously applauding the decision -- constitutionality aside, is it that obvious to conservatives that having a lot of handguns around is a good thing? -- and pivoting to an attack on Obama (see below). We haven't seen an Obama statement yet.
He'll want to avoid alienating gun owners (read white, blue collar, western Pennsylvania, electoral votes) -- in just the last 24 hours, in anticipation of the decision, he's distanced himself from a campaign aide's statement last year saying that he thought the DC handgun ban was constitutional. But now, his running room for supporting both a 2d Amendment right and some gun restrictions has narrowed.
Here's McCain's statement -- note the line at the end about how the ruling will "end forever" debate over the 2d Amendment. Multiple Supreme Court rulings on abortion haven't ever stopped conservative griping, so why would he expect liberals to respect what movement ideologues like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas think?
McCain:
“Today’s decision is a landmark victory for Second Amendment freedom in the United States. For this first time in the history of our Republic, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms was and is an individual right as intended by our Founding Fathers. I applaud this decision as well as the overturning of the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns and limitations on the ability to use firearms for self-defense.
“Unlike Senator Obama, who refused to join me in signing a bipartisan amicus brief, I was pleased......
..... to express my support and call for the ruling issued today. Today’s ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller makes clear that other municipalities like Chicago that have banned handguns have infringed on the constitutional rights of Americans. Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right -- sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly.
“This ruling does not mark the end of our struggle against those who seek to limit the rights of law-abiding citizens. We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms. But today, the Supreme Court ended forever the specious argument that the Second Amendment did not confer an individual right to keep and bear arms.”
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