美國州政府能不能限制槍枝販售? How States Can Limit Gun Violence (Part 2/2) 完整註解
閱讀前你該知道的事
上一週的閱讀中,我們知道州政府有權力禁止企業銷售槍枝,而且在 Teixeira v. County of Alameda 一案中,多數法官也認為禁止在特定區域(如學校、住宅等)設立槍店的法規並不違反第二修正案 The Second Amendment 。不過,少數法官卻對此有異議,他們的看法又是什麼呢?
閱讀全文 >> How States Can Limit Gun Violence
第二修正案確實不保證槍枝製造和銷售權利
Alameda 縣其中一條法規禁止在距離某些機構500英尺範圍內經營槍店,像是住宅區和學校。原告 Teixeira 主張這項法規侵犯了他們的第二修正案持有和攜帶槍枝的權利
回顧 District of Columbia v. Heller 一案:
District of Columbia 特區通過的一項法律,禁止在家中持有和攜帶手槍,並要求槍支在家中必須以拆解或上鎖的方式保存,而一位名叫 Dick Anthony Heller 的特區居民主張這違反了第二修正案賦予他持有和攜帶武器的權利。
Teixeira is no outlier. Since Heller, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and federal district courts in Montana, Texas, West Virginia, Maryland, and New York, have likewise concluded that there is no constitutional right to sell firearms. Prior to Heller, multiple district courts and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had also concluded that there was no Second Amendment right to manufacture or sell firearms.
constitutional 「憲法的」
constitution 「憲法」
文中 constitutional right 意思就是「憲法權利」「憲法保障的權利」
Prior to ... 「在 ... 之前」
Teixeira 這個案例並不是例外 (outlier)。自從 Heller 判決以來,第四巡迴上訴法院(the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals) 和蒙大拿、德州、西維吉尼亞、馬里蘭以及紐約的聯邦地區法院也同樣認為憲法並未保障販售槍支的權利。在 Heller 案之前,多個地區法院和第五巡迴上訴法院也同樣認為第二修正案並未賦予製造或銷售槍支的權利。
巡迴上訴法院 Circuit Court of Appeals
「Circuit Court of Appeals」是美國聯邦法院系統中的一部分,專門負責審理來自聯邦地區法院的上訴案件。美國共有13個聯邦上訴法院,各負責審理一個 「circuit (地理區域) 」。下圖可以看到每個聯邦上訴法院所管轄的範圍,例如第九巡迴上訴法院覆蓋加利福尼亞、亞利桑那等州,是範圍最廣的一個 circuit。
這些上訴法院的判決對其轄區內的法律問題具有重要影響,除非最高法院進一步審理並作出裁決,否則將以上訴法院的判決為準。
若不能買到槍,哪來的第二修正案?
Dissenting in Teixeira, Judge Bea noted that “[t]he Second Amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ would not mean much unless one could lawfully purchase and use arms.” The majority agreed on this general principle, stating “the core Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense ‘wouldn’t mean much’ without the ability to acquire arms.” This was consistent with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously stated in a footnote that “[i]f there were somehow a categorical exception for these restrictions [on the commercial sale of firearms], it would follow that there would be no constitutional defect in prohibiting the commercial sale of firearms. Such a result would be untenable under Heller.”
還記得「全院庭審 en banc」嗎?Teixeira 一案因為非常關鍵,所以進行全院庭審,當然審判結果是通過多數票決定的,而不同意多數意見的法官可以撰寫 “反對意見 dissenting opinion”,解釋他們為何不同意多數的決定。
categorical 「確定無疑的、絕對的」
文中 a categorical exception 意思是 「絕對的(憲法)豁免權」