What were the key points made in the dissenting opinion?
There was no dissenting opinion.
A key point from the court finding and from your quote of it is -
"These show plainly enough that the Militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense.
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Justice McReynolds then dealt with the remaining matter, the scope of the Second Amendment. In a single
paragraph the Court narrowly defined the issue. The question turned on the nature of the short-barreled
shotgun:
"In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a 'shotgun having a barrel of less than
eighteen inches in length' at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well
regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument.
Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could
contribute to the common defense."42
The Court thus defined and answered, in the negative, a narrow question: whether a specific type of firearm,
i.e., a shotgun having a barrel length of less than 18 inches, may lawfully be owned without being subject to
any special formalities, permits, or fees.
The Court ignored – and so did not endorse – the government's other claims, i.e., that:
the right to keep and bear arms was limited to the arms that were best suited to relieve political
oppression, and so did not extend to arms used for personal defense;
Sawed-off shotguns, sawed-off rifles and machineguns were weapons that had no legitimate use in the
hands of private individuals.
The Court thus plainly did not accept the government's claim that it could restrict the right to keep and bear
arms in any way that it chose to do so.
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Tim |
