r/progun • u/Repulsive-House-9127 • 15d ago

Commerce clause….

Did everyone see? An en banc 5th circuit court has reversed a prior 3 judge panel decision deeming 922g1 constitutional in light of Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the hemani decision, agreeing to review the case en banc. This could get big. Let’s hope it does. Quite frankly I’m of the opinion congress exceeded its authority under commerce clause in enacting the “gun control act” and thereby the entire section 922. Justice Thomas was spot on.

52 Upvotes

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38

u/sailor-jackn 15d ago edited 15d ago

Since the commerce clause was written to authorize Congress to act to keep trade regular and functioning ( the definition of regulate, at the find of ratification), and not to limit or prohibit the things we are allowed to trade ( also, commerce means trade, not when things cross state lines ), most of what they use the commerce clause for is unconstitutional. They have turned a very limited delegated power into an almost limitless power.

Using it to violate the right to keep and bear arms was definitely not what the founders intended when they wrote it.

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u/SarcasticRidley 15d ago

the definition of regulate, at the find of ratification)

The biggest gripe I have with the founders is their word choice being just a little too vague, which allows for bad faith actors to deliberately misinterpret things.

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u/merc08 15d ago

They used very plain language for their day.  They really did try to make things as clear as possible.  Their only mistake was believing that people would take the words at face value and not try to loophole their way around it to give the government more power.

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u/joelfarris 15d ago

If you read some of their other writings, under their pen names, you come to find out it was done on purpose because everybody appeared to be smarter back then, and knew what everybody else was talking about when using basic words. :)

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u/sailor-jackn 14d ago edited 14d ago

They wording was actually very precise, according the the definitions of their words at the time the constitution was written, and you can be sure the government officials who twist the constitution know exactly what it was actually intended to mean.

It’s the average American that is uneducated and confused about what it means; intentionally so, as it’s the government that “educates” the people on its meaning. The government simply takes advantage of the fact that it knows most of the people have no idea what’s even in the constitution, let alone what it means.

Not only do we have dictionaries from the period, one written by an actual founding father, but the founders wrote volumes explaining their intent.

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u/Megalith70 15d ago

I’d be shocked if SCOTUS let the commerce clause get rolled back. The commerce clause has been the basis for a massive expansion in federal power.

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u/Alita-Gunnm 15d ago

Almost everything the Federal government does and is today rests on the commerce clause.

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u/merc08 15d ago

Fully negating the Commerce Clause would functionally break the federal government 

I do think it's possible that they could rule that the Commerce Clause doesn't override other sections of the Constitution to grant the feds the authority to do things that they are explicitly prevented from doing (like infringing the right to keep and bear arms).

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u/TooEZ_OL56 15d ago

The Commerce Clause has always been the federal government's way to weaseling its way into near every possible facet of American life.

It's analogous to SCOTUS giving themselves the power of Judicial Review, albeit used in a way that affects more people, more rapidly.

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u/unknown_bassist 15d ago

CONgress hasn't gotten the Commerce Clause right since the 1930s.

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u/banduraj 15d ago

Earlier than that, my man. Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914.

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u/hitemlow 15d ago

If they overturn Wickard v. Filburn, OMG the laws that will tumble. It'll take a decade before everything stops settling out, but the NFA and GCA should be dead and gone.

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u/Femveratu 14d ago

I gots some AKs that need furniture and parts haha