In
Bruen,
the Supreme Court tried once again to make clear that the rights
protected by the Second Amendment are not ‘second class’ rights but they
are fundamental rights which the Constitution absolutely prohibits any
government from infringing. The Supreme Court held that the only
exception to that prohibition would be restrictions which were identical
to or close analogues to restrictions that were part of the nation’s
historical tradition as of 1791 when the Second Amendment was adopted.
TFA
has called on Tennessee Legislators to be prepared to demonstrate the
“Bruen Basis” for any legislation that they propose and also for any
existing laws that they fail to repeal. Although the “
Bruen Basis” is described more fully in the TFA’s prior
post,
it generally means that Legislators have an affirmative burden imposed
by the Supreme Court to demonstrate by clear evidence that any proposed
law or restriction by government on any right that appears to be
protected by the Second Amendment is a restriction that existed as part
of the nation’s historical tradition as of 1791. The Supreme Court
made clear that other claimed justifications such as “reasonable”,
“common sense”, or even, as Bill Lee likes, “public safety” are
irrelevant. The Supreme Court imposed an affirmative burden on the
government to prove that the proposed restriction – whatever it is – is
one that the nation (not just one or two states) embraced as part of its
“historical tradition” as of 1791 when the states ratified the Second
Amendment.
As noted, most of these proposals and practical all
of the proposals by Democrat legislators or “Democrat minded”
legislators fail the “Bruen Basis.”
