On Mon, 17 May 2004 21:43:58 GMT, Carl Nisarel
wrote:


Yes, really.

Here's what Findlaw says about the 2nd Amendment: "Whatever
the Amendment may mean, it is a bar only to federal action,
not extending to state or private restraints."


Ill bet this one frosts your ass....chuckle....

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/90B5FFB18A092A6F88256DDD000000FE/$file/0210318.pdf?openelement

"In a surprise decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that
Congress does not have the right to regulate homemade machine guns and
their parts because they were never in the stream of commerce. This is
big news, because any restriction on the Commerce Clause (which is
used as the basis for most regulation) may affect many other
regulations as well," Thalia writes. "The facts in this case are
simple: Robert W. Stewart sold parts kits for the manufacture and
assembly of Maadi-Griffin .50 caliber rifles; he advertised the kits
on the Internet and in Shotgun News, a national firearms magazine. An
agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
discovered that Stewart had a prior conviction for possession and
transfer of a machine gun and decided to investigate Stewart's
business. A search warrant turned up thirty-one firearms, including
five machine guns. The machine guns had been machined and assembled by
Stewart.

"The question of law, as framed by the 9th Circuit was: Section 922(o)
makes it unlawful to 'transfer or possess a machine gun.' Notably
absent from this provision is any jurisdictional requirement that the
machine gun has traveled in or substantially affected interstate
commerce. We decide whether this statute, as applied to Stewart,
offends the Commerce Clause. The 9th Circuit used the Morrison Test,
which has the following elements: 1) whether the regulated activity is
commercial or economic in nature; (2) whether an express
jurisdictional element is provided in the statute to limit its reach;
(3) whether Congress made express findings about the effects of the
proscribed activity on interstate commerce; and (4) whether the link
between the prohibited activity and the effect on interstate commerce
is attenuated. The 9th Circuit held that Section 922(o) failed prongs
1, 2, and 3 of the Morrison test, and therefore, was unconstitutional
as being an overreaching of the Commerce clause.

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell