Heller affirmed!

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.

I have no idea what the Supreme Court ruling means yet, exactly, because I am waiting for the legal scholars to explain it all to me. Apparently, they want to read the opinion first. And the television talking heads are saying it is not a good idea to run right out and buy a gun before we find out what the new law will look like. So instead, a couple of associated thoughts:

1) At least one good thing has come out of the Bush presidency. Let's hope this blow for individual rights outlasts the executive power grab. I think the Bush administration genuinely believes that the executive should have more power. I also think they're desperately, hopelessly wrong. But of course, since I think all government officials should have rather less power, I would say that, wouldn't I?

2) It's a little sobering to reflect what this decision might have looked like if Michael Bellesiles' work hadn't been so humiliatingly and thoroughly unmasked as a fraud. As it is, the dissenters apparently argue that this is overweening judicial activism, even though everything I know and have read about the crafting of the amendment makes a collective right interpretation pretty untenable.

3) The lack of a court ruling on the question of an individual right to bear arms has been a gaping hole in American constitutional jurisprudence for too long. Thankfully, it's settled. Double thankfully, it's correctly settled.

4) There is a distressing lack of attention to the female market in gun companies. I want something with accuracy and stopping power, but also, an attractive exterior casing that easily integrates with my other accessories. This doesn't seem unreasonable.