The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

For generations, the Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean there is a right to keep and bear arms in the context of a “well-regulated” militia.

Today in a 5-4 ruling, Republican-appointed Supreme Court judges finally gave the National Rifle Association and other gun advocates what they’ve been seeking for decades: an opinion that says the Second Amendment implies an individual right to keep and bear arms.

In the process, they invalidated a Washington, DC statute banning handguns and requiring trigger-locks on other guns.

There’s a lot of legal commentary on this ruling at the SCOTUSblog and at The Volokh Conspiracy blog.

Here are some other posts on the ruling:

Jeralyn at Talk Left (an attorney)

Adam B at Daily Kos (also an attorney)

Dahlia Lithwick at Slate (this includes an observation that Justice Scalia, who wrote today’s ruling, recently dissented to a court ruling on the rights of Guantanamo detainees by saying it “will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed.”)

The Des Moines Register reports, “A Des Moines pizza delivery driver who was suspended after he shot an alleged armed robber said today that he has been fired.”

http://www.desmoinesregister.c…

They are giving him two months’ severance pay (minimum wage only, not making up for tips he would have earned) and, at his request, paying for counseling.

State Senator Brad Zaun (Republican of Urbandale) says he is following through on his threat to boycott the pizza chain:

“I think what he did was the right thing,” Sen. Brad Zaun, a Republican from Urbandale, said earlier this month. “If was in a situation to protect my family, protect myself, to continue being a father, I would’ve done the same thing.”

[…]

“I think it’s the wrong decision by Pizza Hut and I will not be buying any more Pizza Hut products,” he said. “You tell me any Iowan that was in his situation, that had a gun put to his head, how they would’ve reacted differently.”

I feel sorry for this guy. He violated company policy against carrying guns, but his fears for his safety were founded, as he was held up at gunpoint during a shift. Statistically, the gun you carry is unlikely to be used in self-defense, but in his case it sounds like it was.

At the same time, I understand why Pizza Hut is letting him go. If they make an exception for him and some other delivery driver who carries a gun uses it in an unlawful way (for instance, gets road rage and shoots at some car that cut him off), Pizza Hut would face a major liability lawsuit.

My dad, who was an attorney, used to say, “Tough cases make bad law.” In this case, I think that means that the Pizza Hut rules should reflect what’s most safe for the public most of the time, and not this exceptional situation.

Still, I can’t help but feel that this guy did not deserve to be fired. I hope he gets another, better, job offer soon, and I hope counseling will help him deal with this traumatic experience.

I could probably count the number of times I’ve eaten at Pizza Hut in the last ten years on one hand, so I can’t say this episode will affect my likelihood of going there again.

How about you? Are you less likely to order from Pizza Hut now?