DispositionMatrix
NES Member
At the 2020 National Lawyers Convention.
With contrasting views from the two Presidential candidates, as well as the nomination of Judge Amy Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second Amendment has once again become one of the foremost topics of discussion in the legal and political world.
Second Amendment issues have arisen in 2020 like never before. The year started with “Second Amendment sanctuaries” in which almost all counties in Virginia, and many in other states, declared that proposed infringements on the right to keep and bear arms would not be enforced. The Virginia governor declared a state of emergency because of a planned protest in Richmond by gun owners, and although 22,000 protesters, many of them legally armed, attended, there was no reported violence. More recently, rioting and civil unrest have raised questions about citizens arming themselves and the use of potentially deadly force.
What constitutional protections, if any, are available to property owners wishing to protect their lives, livelihood, property, and communities? What is the correct constitutional analysis of restrictions on fundamental rights, including the Second Amendment, enacted in the midst of a nationwide pandemic and what role, if any, do traditional “police powers” play in analyzing those restrictions? What are the constitutional implications, if any, of criminal cases capturing headlines concerning the use of firearms by individual Americans such as Mark and Patricia McClosky, and Kyle Rittenhouse? The panel will discuss the Second Amendment implications of these timely issues.
