I think its worth noticing that while Miller vs DC incorporates the 2nd amendment, it does *not* limit federal gun restrictions. Scalia used all kinds of tortured logic to justify federal arms regulation despite the clear language of the second amendment.
This means that while state and local governments cannot regulate firearms, the feds can (and do.) This means that the Congress will be free to pass another stupid "assault weapons" ban and Miller will not apply to it.
In case anyone's wondering the reason the "Assault Weapons" ban was stupid (it has since expired) is that all it banned were scary looking features on guns and not actual gun functions themselves. These scary features included things like pistol grips and bayonet lugs and did not in any way contribute to the deadliness or use of the weapon in question, and manufacturers simply started producing versions of the weapons devoid of these scary looking features.
Dan's example is a great one of politics without substance--it's what we can expect and do get from the powers that be when it comes to these emotionally charged issues. The LCD fall for it, because apparently critical thinking skills are going the way of the dodo, and those who attempt to apply logic to the situation are drowned out with the wails and what-ifs.
I want to knock one-issue voters in the head for being blind to larger problems, but at the same time I think they might be (unwittingly) onto a little something... It's the one-issue, nickel & dime chipping away at our rights that puts us on the inexorable path to dictatorship when we're not looking.
What I don't get is why 2nd amendment supporters aren't also going wild over the awful FISA law passed by the House. Unfortunately many of the same people who one-issue vote on guns don't seem to care about the rest of the Constitution and its Amendments.
I agree Jessie, for the most part if it weren't for single issue voters those issues would be ignored. Even the ACLU refuses to litigate 2nd amendment cases.
The flip side is that it can lead to turning issues that effect relatively few people into gigantic issues that flood out the debate over the real issues we face.
Abortion/reproductive rights are an important issue but because of the emotional response both sides have it ends up completely invalidating all other issues. Politicians know that abortion is the ultimate wedge issue that they can use to get voting blocks on their side without having to debate other issues. Every election the GOP reminds us that the Dems want to kill poor innocent babies and the Dems remind us that the GOP wants to strip women of control of their own bodies, but its all bullshit.
My own mother is a single-issue pro-life voter and even she recently had to admit that the GOP only plays the abortion card for votes. The GOP dominated all three branches of government for 5 years and did nothing about abortion (other than the partial-birth red herring.) Both parties will continue running up red flags on the issue in every election and neither intends to do anything to change the current state of affairs. The GOP knows that the moment they (theoretically) passed a constitutional amendment banning all forms of abortion, the abortion wedge would be gone. They will never seriously try to pass one.
As it is, each side can say vote for our presidential candidate because the SC is one vote away from making things more/less to your liking on this one single issue, and it works.
Meanwhile, what percentage of Americans actually undergoes the procedure in any given year?
Anecdote about the NRA: My grandfather (a retired railroader and FDR-style labor democrat) was a lifetime member in the NRA. He told them to go to hell during the last presidential election because they kept inundating him with anti-Kerry phone calls and mailings. It's sort of weird thing; all of my relatives are union labor folks, all have guns and vote democratic. And why not? The democrats ceded the gun issue a long time ago. The NRA has become nothing but a shill for the GOP's bad ideas.
I still remember my dad turning in his NRA membership during the Bush/Clinton campaign.
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