Constitutional Provision and Statutes: Second Amendment
Hypotheticals
In this section you will be given hypothetical case facts, statutes, and legal arguments made by the parties. You will then write a Court opinion as if you were a Supreme Court justice.
When writing, remember you should make the decision as current precedent dictates, not as you feel it should be. The best answers will discuss the entire history of that area of case law in the lead up to the discussion of the current case law.
Newly elected Pocatello Mayor Jean-Luc Piccard pledges to take the city to a prosperous new future where no city has gone before. As part of this policy platform, he convinces City Council to pass the Anti-Klingon Act of 2014, which bans the possession of all firearms within city limits. Khan Noonien Singh, a city resident challenges the law, stating that it infringes upon the federal Romulan Armament Act, which allows citizens to possess weapons because Congress has determined that owning arms promotes economic development.
must use book
Epstein, Lee and Thomas Walker. 2013. Constitutional Law for a Changing America: Institutional Powers and Constraints. 8th edition. Congressional Quarterly Press: Washington.
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Hypothetical Case Study
Constitutional Provision and Statute: the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states that the citizens of the U.S. have the right to bear firearms. According to this constitutional provision, a properly regulated militia is vital to ensuring the security of a free State; hence people’s right to bear and keep firearms will not be breached. In essence, the 2nd Amendment gives an American citizen the right to bear a gun for lawfully purposes for instance self-defense. Legal question: in this case, the legal question is whether the local law enacted by City Council of Pocatello that prohibits the possession of all guns within the city limits actually violates the federal Romulan Armament Act that confers citizens the right to possess arms.
History of case law: owners of firearms in the United States usually make reference to the 2nd Amendment when they argue against restrictions on their possession of guns. Nonetheless, gun collectors, dealers, and owners have to abide by the federal as well as state regulations if they want to have guns, or to operate a company where they sell firearms. The federal law regulates the ownership of firearms to some extent and restricts the ownership of some sorts of guns. Relevant Precedent: In Printz v. United States of the year 1997...