Justice, Kavanaugh And The Second Amendment

When Brett Kavanaugh was first sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice on October 8th, 2018, a wave of disapproval arose in the people. Whether it was regarding the morality of his character or the fear of the Supreme Court tipping to a conservative majority, there was no doubt that people had complaints.

Over time, the disputes moved from the morality of Kavanaugh's character to the potential changes that would be made in government with the new conservative majority. A concern people worried about in particular was the second amendment.

From the beginning, Kavanaugh has publicly shown his undying support of the second amendment. A court case known as the Heller case emerged in the 2000s which made an attempt to uplift laws in DC banning semiautomatic rifles and requiring handguns to be registered evoked a very pro-gun response from Justice Kavanaugh.

His ideology was made clear when he deemed banning of semiautomatics to be unconstitutional along with the argument that semiautomatics provide the purpose of self-defense that every citizen deserves. He even took his strong passion for guns into writing a dissent highlighting the greatness of the Second Amendment and the importance of protecting it.

Today, Kavanaugh holds an even higher power in the Supreme Court. Therefore, he has more power to pursue his love of gun rights. He can now work with a conservative majority to make serious changes in favor of the Second Amendment.

Until recently, the supreme court has successfully avoided cases regarding gun rights and the Second Amendment for nearly ten years (their last case is the District of Columbia v. Heller case in 2008). Now, in 2019 a New York City's ban on handgun transport (to anywhere besides specific gun shooting ranges) had been deemed unconstitutional by gun owners.

The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association along with three gun owners made a case against the ban which eventually reached the Supreme Court. While the case has not been made in front of the Supreme Court yet, there is substantial fear that because of the conservative majority of judges, A decision will be made that largely favors gun enthusiasts such as Kavanaugh.

This particular case is not the only reason to strike fear in people for gun safety. When the Supreme Court was a more even split between left and right leaning judges, fewer cases regarding guns made it to them. This was very likely because lower courts strongly followed the current gun laws to avoid the uncertainty of policy change in the Supreme Court.

With Kavanaugh replacing the swing vote, Kennedy, more and more cases regarding gun laws may reach the top in hopes of more gun rights.

The future of gun laws and the Second Amendment is unclear as of right now. It is unclear whether Kavanaugh's presence in the Supreme Court will cause any major policy change or whether laws and regarding guns will remain stagnant. It is clear, however, that the second amendment exists. The question is how much of its core value will exist over the coming years?