Re: Denied Illinois FOID card

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On 10/05/07, v wrote:
> I don't know! What do it mean?

The 11th Amendment describes dual sovereignty very well. Basically, if the US
Constitution or federal law does not reserve a power exclusively to the federal
government, it is granted to the states.

We started this thread with someone claiming that the 2nd Amendment controlled gun
rights in all states. It is very common to hear someone claim their gun rights under
the 2nd amendment are being violated by a state or local government. WRONG! The 2nd
Amendment is one of a few parts of the Constitution that does not apply to state
government. It prevents the federal government from denying your gun rights but since
it does not specifically apply its terms to the states--under the 11th Amendment the
power to regulate guns is not denied the states.

Federalism or dual sovereignty is a concept almost universally misunderstood. It
appears that law students also miss the critical point of how the Constitution works.
I'm sure some student out there can explain the concept better than I have. For
example; explain why the 13th Amendment applies to state government as well as federal
government but the 7th Amendment only applies to the federal government?

OK class, this is a take home exam.