While on the subject of negative Chinese stereotypes (previous post,) the Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) is set to review a case initiated by a band called the Slants. The Slants had previously petitioned to have their name trademarked and were denied because the name was deemed offensive. (The Redskins also tried to do this and were also turned down.) A lower court has upheld the Slants’ request on the basis of their First Amendment rights (click here if you want to read more discussion of it.)
Should SCOTUS decide 4-4 on this matter, as they have done so a couple of times since Scalia passed away back in February, the lower court opinion will stand. With Congress sitting on Judge Garland’s nomination, these 4-4 deadlocks just prove that the Supreme Court is wasting its time reviewing such controversial matters. The betting is that when/if Hillary wins, Congress will select Garland as fast as they can for fear that she will nominate someone even more liberal. From most opinion makers, Garland is considered to be a moderate.
And since I have now wandered into the political briar patch here, I will go even a little further.
Why is it that the First Amendment gets so much attention while our Second Amendment receives little to no scrutiny nor clarification? Judicially, the First Amendment has been reviewed and examined numerous times (e.g. you can’t yell fire in a crowded theater, there are seven words you can’t say, and “I know it when I see it” etc. (click here) while the Second Amendment has only had a handful of SCOTUS’ cases (click here.)
Bottom line, we like our guns a little too much to have had any real conversation about what makes sense regarding controlling them and their usage. Seems that we’d rather talk about what we talk about than do anything about what we do or don’t do.
Here then is a suggestion – name assault weapons such as the AR-15 above something semi-offensive like The Slants. Perhaps that would get them evaluated by SCOTUS. Then again, it would probably just result in a 4-4 decision by the time they were done looking at it.
One final note – I still haven’t had any gun lovers give me one good reason why they think they need or should be allowed to posses an assault weapon like the AR-15.
Here then are the Slants, currently a musical group but soon-to-be a gun.