Heller has been heard by the Supreme Court, now the justices will read and re-read briefs, and conference, and supposedly give us some kind of decision in June. To reiterate my prediction: Ban overturned, reasonable restrictions allowed, probably "rational" scrutiny of any laws, and no major effect nationally.
That said, and setting aside my concerns about the court's treatment of Miller, as something for another day, I was interested in this bit:
In addition to the handgun ban, Washington also has a trigger lock requirement for other guns that raised some concerns Tuesday.
"When you hear somebody crawling in your bedroom window, you can run to your gun, unlock it, load it and then fire?" Justice Antonin Scalia said.
Roberts, who has two young children, suggested at one point that trigger locks might be reasonable.
"There is always a risk that the children will get up and grab the firearm and use it for some purpose other than what the Second Amendment was designed to protect," he said.
On the other hand, he, too, wondered about the practical effect of removing a lock in an emergency. "So then you turn on the lamp, you pick up your reading glasses," Roberts said to laughter.
Dellinger said he opened the lock in three seconds, although he conceded that was in daylight.
Three whole seconds. Interesting.
So - here's my double dog dare for Walter The Gunslinger:
He gets a revolver loaded with Simunitions , equipped with a standard trigger lock. I get to have a foam
bat covered with chalk. I will toss, say, a thousand dollars into a pot. I will start the scenario, as Justice Scalia stated, a decent distance away from Walter The Gunslinger, in a darkened room, with him lying down as though in bed. My mission will be to strike him with the chalk-covered club, and we will deduct 100 dollars from the pot for each hit I make on him. The scenario ends when he gets the trigger lock unlocked and shoots me with the paintball, and he gets the
remainder of the pot.
The catch is this - for every strike past 10, Walter The Gunslinger needs to pay me a hundred dollars, just to be fair, up to the time he unlocks the gun and shoots me.
I figure I'll pay off my student loans, my house, my car, and have enough left over to start a decent business before I run out of chalk on the foam.
C'mon, Walter, put your money where your mouth is. I triple dog dare ya! After all, it's just money for you - for some poor gunowner, three seconds might well be his life.
J. Underhill
