In Common Use Test
Received via email: David, I'm a long time reader of your work, which is among the best out there on the subject. I know you get a lot of email so I will try to keep this brief. I wanted to throw in my two cents on the 'in common use' test, since you speak of it frequently. I also follow Mark W. Smith quite closely, and my view on the topic is basically a restatement of what he says. Let me say, first, that I agree 1,000% with what you say about how this will be used against us. That being said, I think it is a fantastic test, if used as intended. All one has to do is look at the lower courts, though, to see how they will twist any test beyond recognition to achieve their goals. Like they say it's not the gun, it's the criminal, and it's not the test, it's the courts/grabbers. So, SCOTUS laid down the text first, then historical tradition*** approach, as laid out in Heller and affirmed in Bruen. Is it a ban or restriction? The plain text of the 2A is implic...