MSD

I want to add to this that any gun with a removable magazine (basically anything but a revolver or one of those classic Mauser pistols with a fixed magazine) can, in theory, be modified to hold more than 12 rounds and is therefore defined as a "machine gun" under DC law.

loquitur

Roachboy, you may want to read Randy Barnett's take on how original public meaning works, with particular reference to how it was used in Heller. He posted it over in The Volokh Conspiracy. Barnett is a well-known con law prof, now at Georgetown (I think). He is the attorney who argued in the Supreme Court that April Raich should be permitted to grow marijuana in her own home for her own personal medical use (he lost 6-3; the dissenters were Rehnquist, O'Connor and Thomas). I remember learning back in law school the distinction between interpretation and construction that he talks aobut, but he is right that in practice a lot of people conflate the two, which is not conducive to clear thinking. (He has some criticism of Scalia at the end, too. I like that Barnett is intellectually honest.)

Cynthetiq

thank you thank you.

I really appreciate that link. I never really grasped what the difference of interpretationist vs. constructionist and this spelled i out very simply for me.

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roachboy

loquitor--interesting text---i'm thinking about it--i'll maybe post more about this later--but thanks...

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