Nordyke.
Nordyke. Remember this name. This name may come to mean a lot to Californians who hold their rights dear. The Nordyke’s (Mr. and Mrs.) are the main plaintiffs in the court case of Nordyke vs. King which was a case about the ban of gun shows on Alameda City land. Today the appeals decision was released and the Nordykes lost. Yep, they lost the appeals case. Fortunately the win/loss of this case was not the most relevant part of the decision being made. Certainly it would be nice for Alameda to have to allow gun shows on city land such as the fairgrounds, but there was a bigger question answered in the decision since California does not have the right to bear arms in the state constitution. It is summed up by the sweet sound of the word “incorporation” in this part of the decision:
We therefore conclude that the right to keep and bear arms is “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Colonial revolutionaries, the Founders, and a host of commentators and lawmakers living during the first one hundred years of the Republic
all insisted on the fundamental nature of the right. It has long been regarded as the “true palladium of liberty.” Colonists relied on it to assert and to win their independence, and the victorious Union sought to prevent a recalcitrant South from abridging it less than a century later. The crucial role this deeply rooted right has played in our birth and history compels us to recognize that it is indeed
fundamental, that it is necessary to the Anglo-American conception of ordered liberty that we have inherited. We are therefore persuaded that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment and applies it against the states and local governments.”
In light of the Heller vs. D.C. decision that stated right to bear arms guaranteed by the 2A was an individual right and that bans of firearms in common use were unconstitutional the Nordyke decision which states the 2A applies to California and local governments therein may lead to the California Assault Weapon Ban, Roster of Safe Handguns, and other 50 cal rifle ban laws being ruled unconstitutional. I would not make a shopping list anything soon, but if the decision is held in any further court contests California may lead the way back to freedom.