In a May 22 editorial examining the Obama administration’s push against 3-D printed guns, the LA Times made clear its conviction that the individual right to keep and bear arms was created by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in 2008.
The Times contends that the SCOTUS created the right via the District of Columbia v Heller decision. That decision struck down Washington DC’s gun ban on the grounds that the ban went against the “individual right to keep and bear arms,” protected by the Second Amendment.
Without mincing words, the Times responded: “We disagreed, believing that the [Second Amendment’s] reference to “a well-regulated militia” limits the right to keep and bear arms to organized military units.”
On June 27, 2008–just one month after the Heller ruling was handed down–the Times quickly went on record to establish its position that the court had made a mistake.
Presented with two historically plausible arguments about whether the 2nd Amendment secures an individual right to keep and bear arms, the Supreme Court on Thursday opted for the interpretation less suited to a 21st century America bedeviled by gun crime. That’s the disappointing part of the court’s long-awaited ruling striking down the District of Columbia’s strict gun-control ordinance.
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