Just LOOK at this quote from an amicus brief filed by the Montana Secretary of State, Brad Johnson, and a some Montana lawmakers
A collective rights decision by the court would violate the contract by which Montana entered into statehood, called the Compact With the United States and archived at Article I of the Montana Constitution. When Montana and the United States entered into this bilateral contract in 1889, the U.S. approved the right to bear arms in the Montana Constitution, guaranteeing the right of "any person" to bear arms, clearly an individual right.
There was no assertion in 1889 that the Second Amendment was susceptible to a collective rights interpretation, and the parties to the contract understood the Second Amendment to be consistent with the declared Montana constitutional right of "any person" to bear arms.
As a bedrock principle of law, a contract must be honored so as to give effect to the intent of the contracting parties. A collective rights decision by the court in Heller would invoke an era of unilaterally revisable contracts by violating the statehood contract between the United States and Montana, and many other states.
I've wondered if I was going to stay in Florida from now on. Granted, I love wearing shorts on Christmas, I'd sure like to see some actual terrain that isn't flat as an ironing board.
Montana might be nice!
Hat Tip Q&O
rolled out on
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 7:51 PM