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Anthony Zuiker, the creator of the hit series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigations" and one of the stars, Marg Helgenberger, Zoom-chatted with Kylie Mar of Yahoo Entertainment about the 20th anniversary of the series premiere.

Back on Friday, October 6, 2000, "CSI" premiered and was an immediate success. The series was so popular, it went on for 15 seasons, spawned three spin-offs and is seen in almost every country in the world.

One of the things that made the show so unique was the so-called "CSI shot" where viewers would get a close-up look at a bullet tearing through flesh and organs, or a bone being broken in a fall. Anthony explained that he was inspired by an old George Clooney movie. "I got the "CSI shot by watching a movie called Three Kings, where the bullet went into the body," Anthony said. "So it was just a different point of view of a forensic show and a cop show. Because actually you could dive in to see the forensics. So we coined them right in the script. It would be "CSI shot" in the secondary slug, or the shot line."

Marg Helgenberger also spoke about the "CSI shot," saying, "What came to be known as "the CSI shot," you know following the trajectory of bullets through bodies," Marg explained, "I mean, there was all that sort of fun way to show the science, you know, not just talk about it. And that definitely was revolutionary."

MARG HELGENBERGER: When I read that pilot script, I was-- you know, got very excited about it. And really just thought it was innovative and groundbreaking. And but also was kind of like what they ended up being referring to it as the 21st century Sherlock Holmes.

KYLIE MAR: It's been 20 years since the world was introduced to a new style of crime drama when "CSI Crime Scene Investigation" premiered on Friday, October 6, 2000. The show was an immediate success and spawned three spin-offs over a span of 16 years. To celebrate the 20-year anniversary, I recently chatted with star Marg Hellenberger, who played Catherine Willows. And she talked about what made the show so unique.

Story continues

MARG HELGENBERGER: What then came to be known as the "CSI" shot, you, following the trajectory of bullets through bodies. And you know, if somebody had been drinking, and had a side poisoning. You know, to see the poison go through the-- to look at the X-ray machine. I mean, there all that kind of fun way to show the science, you know, and not just talk about it. And that definitely was revolutionary.

KYLIE MAR: The man behind the revolutionary shot is the show's creator, Anthony Zeuiker. So I zoomed into his Malibu home to find out the origin of the legendary "CSI" shot.

ANTHONY ZUIKER: I got the "CSI" shot by watching a movie called "Three Kings," where the bullet [WHISTLES] right into the body. So it was just a different point of view of a forensic show, cop show, which you actually could dive in to see the forensics.

KYLIE MAR: Anthony has every reason to celebrate the big anniversary. But just like everyone else in 2020, his plans were sidelined by the coronavirus.

Are you doing anything special for the 20th anniversary?

ANTHONY ZUIKER: Well, we thought we were. We thought we might be debuting "CSI, the Comeback" right around October 6 of 2020 to make it 20 years. But unfortunately, that little pandemic stopped us. So it'll be delayed for probably a year.

KYLIE MAR: That's right. It looks like we'll get to see more crime scenes being investigated in the future. And Anthony told me some of those investigations are being written as we speak.

ANTHONY ZUIKER: Well, in terms of the writer's room, I know that the showrunner is probably done with eight of 10. I know that much. So it's a limited series. And so never before in history the world, they never has scripts before actors, so enjoy it. So we'll most likely be shooting in the spring of '21. And fingers crossed, the game plan is to air in the fall of '21.

KYLIE MAR: Anthony was clearly bummed that the new episodes had been pushed back so much. But he's excited for what the future holds for the "CSI" world.

ANTHONY ZUIKER: We're the most proud about setting the show in today's times, in today's fake news, in today's cancel culture, in today's Black Lives Matter, and all these-- these things are all-- pandemic, it's all here. So it does reflect how we write the scripts, how we deal with the scripts, as some of the things we do take on as representative of this generation versus 20 years ago.

KYLIE MAR: While Anthony's lips were sealed when I asked who is returning for the limited series, it has been reported that William Petersen and Jorja Fox are in talks to reprise their roles as Gil Grissom and Sara Sidel. As for my girl, Marg, she'd have to find time to shoot around the schedule of her current "CBS" show, "All Rise," but would love to be a part of the revival. She even has an idea of what Catherine would be up to these days.

Now, in 2020, where would Catherine be? What would she be doing? How would she be handling the pandemic?

MARG HELGENBERGER: Interesting. Well, when we did the series finale, which would have been after season 15, at that point, Catherine was in the FBI. So I would think she's-- you know, FBI director. [LAUGHS] Why not, right?

KYLIE MAR: Yeah. Love that.

[LAUGHTER]

More here:
'CSI' creator reveals the George Clooney movie that inspired the famous 'CSI shot' - Yahoo News

Best TV shows with the worst endings

All good things must come to an end, even successful television shows, and sometimes the best shows have the worst endings. Whether its a show thats gone on well past its prime, or a show whose original cast left and were replaced by actors who paled in comparison, or a reboot or revival with a promising start that stalled after a season or two, even great shows arent perfect.

To determine the 50 best TV shows with the worst endings, Stacker compiled data on the best TV shows on IMDb with more than 50,000 votes and ranked them according to the average IMDb user rating across the final season. User ratings are ranked according to full value, but only two decimals places are shown. Those listed as ties are exact ties down to the last decimal. Data is up to date as of Sept. 16.

These shows represent every genre from sci-fi to drama and come from all over the world. They are about witches and horsemen and include a British sketch comedy. One is set in a fifth dimension not known to man, another is about a suburban mother who resorts to selling drugs, and there are three versions of a space show with a cult-like following that spans five decades.

While it may seem many of these shows have little in common, the thread that ties them together is that somewhere along the line things went bad. In the end, they left a trail of disappointed or confused fans who wondered what exactly happened to that show they loved. Keep reading to see how many shows on the list ranked among your favorites with the very worst endings.

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.68- Total seasons: 8

Charmed featured the Halliwell sisters, three women who found out they were powerful witches meant to fight evil. The final season was plagued with budget cuts and the final episode, which found middle-sister Piper traveling back in time to prevent the events that led to her sisters deaths, was okay, but the time travel storyline woven throughout was confusing and fans were upset that Shannen Doherty didnt return as eldest Halliwell sister, Prue, for a final goodbye. Doherty left the show in 2001 and was replaced by Rose McGowan, the long-lost half sister.

#49. Sleepy Hollow (2013-2017)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.68- Total seasons: 4

The supernatural show aired on Fox and was loosely based on the 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. The main character, Ichabod Crane, is resurrected and sent to the future to solve a mystery from the past. While the first two seasons received favorable reviews, things went downhill in the final seasons. Not only did the storyline become convoluted, but the once diverse cast was pared down and fans felt betrayed.

#48. Will & Grace (1998-2020)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.67- Total seasons: 11

The Will & Grace 2017 reboot pretended the original season finale never happened, and it set Will and Grace back to where they were when fans left them years earlier. While it was interesting to revisit these characters, by the third season, many fans wondered if the producers should have let the characters go gentle into that good night. It seemed Will & Grace had many things to say, but they werent anything fans hadnt heard years earlier.

#47. Gossip Girl (2007-2012)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.66- Total seasons: 6

While the first season of the show received excellent reviews and a score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, many fans thought finding out the identity of Gossip Girl ruined the show. Others were upset about how little sense it made to continue a high school show once the characters were out of high school.

#46. Futurama (1999-2013)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.65- Total seasons: 10

Matt Groening, who created the long-running animated marvel The Simpsons, also created Futurama, which first aired on New Years Eve, 1999, and was about a pizza delivery boy who froze himself in the present only to wake up in the future. The show, hailed as a funny and sharp comedy, remained on Fox for four seasons until 2003. For many, the 2008 Comedy Central reboot simply was not as funny as it was during the first go-round.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

#45. Monty Pythons Flying Circus (1969-1974)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.65- Total seasons: 4

Initially, critics were not fond of the British sketch-comedy Monty Pythons Flying Circus and found its comedy crude and inappropriate. As time went on, the tides changed, and so did the audience and critical response. Perhaps it was because there was nothing like it on television. John Cleese left after the third season, and the disarming charm of such innovative comedy wore thin with the fourth season of the show that featured more misses than hits.

Elizabeth Meriwether Pictures

#44. New Girl (2011-2018)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.64- Total seasons: 7

A solid performer for Fox, New Girl debuted in 2011 and was a comedy about a teacher who moved into a Los Angeles loft with three men. Ratings dropped during the sixth season, and Fox prepared what could serve as a series finale, though it did wind up picking the show up for a shortened seventh season. Writing for Decider, Lea Palmieri voiced what many were thinking, After last nights New Girl series finale, well, it kind of feels like maybe we didnt need that seventh and final season after all.

#42. Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.64- Total seasons: 7

Pretty Little Liars followed a group of teenage girls who were keeping a deadly secret. Many fans felt the payoff in the final season was not worth the seven-year wait. They learned the identities of A, Uber A, A.D., and found the truth to be entirely underwhelming.

#42. Sex and the City (1998-2004) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.64- Total seasons: 6

Based on the book by author Candace Bushnell, Sex and the City was about the adventures of writer Carrie Bradshaw as she navigated love and life in New York City. It gave us a solid group of female friends who supported each other, and it also brought fashion and womens sexuality to the forefront. The end though, left many fans and the shows creator, Darren Star, as well as writer Bushnell, disappointed.

#41. Luke Cage (2016-2018)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.62- Total seasons: 2

Luke Cage, a Netflix original based on a Marvel comic book hero who gains superhuman abilities after an experiment goes awry, received positive reviews for its first season, though it fell into the dreaded sophomore slump. The show fell apart behind the scenes too, and Netflix canceled it after the second season.

#40. Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.61- Total seasons: 7

While many Star Trek fans were upset about the addition of Voyager to the franchise, the show definitely had a following and some solid reviews. The show was about another crew with Kathryn Janeway as its captain, cruising around space in the 24th century. Many felt the finale had an abrupt end, and declining ratings in the final season didnt help.

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.61- Total seasons: 7

When Scandal aired for the first time, it was a riveting political thriller about a Washington D.C. crisis management firm run by an intelligent woman, played by Kerry Washington, until the show descended into a nighttime soap opera. Its ambiguous ending also frustrated many fans and left them wondering what happened to Olivia Pope. The ending was intentional though, as series creator Shonda Rhimes wanted viewers to draw some of their own conclusions.

#38. The X-Files (1993-2018)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.61- Total seasons: 11

When it premiered in 1993, the show was about two FBI agentsone who believed in the possibility of the impossible and one who did not. When it returned for its revival in 2016, dynamic duo Mulder and Scullys banter remained much to fans delight, but a battle began, tooone between the fun, darkly humorous one-off shows and the overall alien-mythology arc the show carried from day one. In the end, series creator Chris Carter, much like the shows main character Fox Mulder, could not let go of his obsession and this time around, fans didnt seem all that interested.

#37. Lie to Me (2009-2011)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.60- Total seasons: 3

The show was about a detection expert who read peoples body language and could tell if they were lying. Tim Roth played Cal Lightman, a character loosely based on real-life Paul Ekman, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology. While the first season performed well for Fox, the following seasons saw a decline in ratings. A bit of an upswing during the third season wasnt enough to save the show.

20th Century Fox Television

#36. How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.59- Total seasons: 9

With the buildup of one single question for nine seasonshow the main character Ted Mosby met his wife and the mother of his childrenfans expected a lot because they had given a lot. When it was revealed that the mother was not who fans expected, they were disappointed. The final season felt disjointed from the rest of the seasons, which it turned out were not just about one single question, but rather years of growing friendships and helping each other to survive.

#35. Falling Skies (2011-2015)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.59- Total seasons: 5

The Steven Spielberg-produced show was promising and offered an interesting premise. It followed several survivors as they struggled in the aftermath of an alien attack. Writing for Variety, Brian Lowry thought the show was already suffering, especially in the final season and wrote of the finale, The final episode, after a protracted and sometimes meandering buildup, had a slightly anticlimactic quality, reinforcing, more than anything, that it was overdue for Chicken Littles warning to finally come true.

#34. Iron Fist (2017-2018)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.58- Total seasons: 2

Iron Fist, another installment in the Netflix Marvel universe, followed hero Danny Rand, who was presumed dead for a decade and a half after his return to New York City. Yet another casualty in the Marvel Netflix saga, the show tried, but only ran for two seasons. While many found the second season to be an improvement, the show still struggled and never gained the traction of the other Marvel series.

#32. Dexter (2006-2013) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.53- Total seasons: 8

The television show about a serial killer who only killed bad people, Dexter was an innovative show with a unique concept. Yet with each passing season, fans seemed to tire of the lead characters neat and efficient way of getting out of every situation. The show also had one of the worst endings in television history.

#32. The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.53- Total seasons: 12

While The Big Bang Theory started strong, it continued to go on and on, for 12 seasons, with many critics and fans wondering whether it had outlived its expiration date. The show featured a group of nerds and one pretty, but clueless girl, played by Kaley Cuoco.

#31. Designated Survivor (2016-2019)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.53- Total seasons: 3

After the president is killed, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Thomas Kirkman, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is the designated survivor and takes over the presidency. The show ran for three seasons, two on ABC and one on Netflix, which saved the show after ABC canceled it. The pilot episode had 10 million viewers, but the fanfare didnt last for many reasons, and Netflix didnt renew it for a fourth season.

#30. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990-1996)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.52- Total seasons: 6

Will Smith plays a teen from Philly who gets in a fight and is sent by his mother to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle in Bel-Air, California. While certainly not a ratings darling initially, the show gained a loyal following and was a hit. By the final season, many critics and fans tired of the formulaic nature of the show, and the strange disappearance of one Aunt Viv, who was replaced with another after the third season, frustrated and confused some.

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.52- Total seasons: 2

A reimagining of the 1980s series about an alien race that comes to Earth, this version didnt last either. The first season of the show brought in decent ratings and the network ordered a second season, but the show sputtered. Unfortunately, the series finale was one of the best episodes of the struggling series, but it was too late to save the show.

#28. Nip/Tuck (2003-2010)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.52- Total seasons: 6

Nip/Tucks opening line, Tell us what you dont like about yourself, brought some of the most outrageous storylines. The show, a story about two plastic surgeons and their controversial medical practice, was groundbreaking for its boundary-pushing, though it may have been exactly this that caused it to get off track. It seemed with each successive season, it became harder to top the last crazy plotline and in the end, many fans felt Nip/Tuck had fallen into foolish and frightening frivolity.

#27. The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.49- Total seasons: 5

The original show ran on CBS for five seasons and featured unique stories written by Rod Serling. By the time the final season ran, changes in producers, a lesser level of involvement by Serling, and repetitive storylines plagued the show. In 2019, writer/director Jordan Peele created the latest TwilightZonerevival.

#26. Californication (2007-2014)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.48- Total seasons: 7

Californicationis a story about a troubled New York writer played by David Duchovny who moves to Los Angeles and suffers from a severe case of writers block. While many critics initially enjoyed the show, after time it suffered from repetitive and tired storylines that led many to believe seven seasons were far too many.

#25. The Following (2013-2015)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.45- Total seasons: 3

The first season of the Fox drama featuring Kevin Bacon as an FBI agent chasing a serial killer did well. By the third season, the once-promising plot had derailed, and the series finale was a disappointment. Writing for Variety, Bryan Lowry noted, And the two-hour finale only drove home how the program squandered its assets, with the end coming two years and many dozens, if not hundreds, of killings too late.

#24. Wayward Pines (2015-2016)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.44- Total seasons: 2

Based on a trilogy of novels by author Blake Crouch about the end of mankind and its renewal, the first season of the science-fiction show found an audience. Initially intended as a limited series, season one did well, so the show was renewed by Fox. When the show returned in season two, Jason Patric replaced Matt Dillon as the protagonist, and though the season finale set it up for a season three, the network canceled the M. Night Shyamalan-helmed show.

#23. Dragon Ball (1986-1989)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.43- Total seasons: 9

Two friends go on a mission to find seven mythical balls that, with the help of a dragon, can grant wishes in this Japanese animated series. The series lasted nine seasons, but many fans found some of the decisions in the installment following the original disappointing.

#21. Arrested Development (2003-2019) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.40- Total seasons: 5

Fans loved the quirky show about a large and dysfunctional family, though some thought it lost its magic when it moved from Fox to Netflix after three seasons. The final two seasons didnt live up to the first three.

CBS Paramount Network Television

#21. CSI: Miami (2002-2012) (tie)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.40- Total seasons: 10

For viewers of the canceled series, the most disappointing ending was no ending at all. The show about a crime scene investigation team in Miami, a spinoff of the original CSI, never had a finale. This upset loyal fans who invested 10 seasons worth of their time.

20th Century Fox Television

#20. The Last Man on Earth (2015-2018)

- Final season IMDb user rating: 7.38- Total seasons: 4

In this Fox show, the last man on Earth tries to find signs of life. It received an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and had a fan following. When it ended with the season four finale and without a final season, fans were upset.

Original post:
Best TV shows with the worst endings - KAKE

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Opinion columnist Published 4:00 a.m. ET Oct. 8, 2020

Riots over George Floyd predictably resulted in billions in property damage, but it might be a surprise that they have strengthened the argument for gun rights.

This yearsriots, sparked by the death of George Floyd and continued in the names of several others, have destroyed billions of dollars in property, cost numerous people their livesand businesses and jobs,and promoted what will probably be a decade or more of de-urbanization.But whatever else happens, they will have accomplished an important social change.Thanks to these riots, the case for the Second Amendment and the personal right to own weapons is growing steadily stronger, as is the legal case for private gun ownership.

Thats the thesis of a new paper by George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein, who also serves as the director of GMUs Liberty and Law Center.The Right to Armed Self Defense in the Light of Law Enforcement Abdication, notes that the experience of this years riots undercuts the classic argument against an individual right to arms.While gun-control proponents have for decades argued that individual gun ownership is unnecessary in the modern era, where we have police forces to control crime, that hasnt worked out very well this year for people in numerous urban centers around America.

Bernstein offers an extensive review of happenings in cities ranging from Seattle to Louisville, Portland to Chicago and New York and Raleigh, and many other cities. In case after case, police were told to stand down, in order to avoid provoking violence.And in each case, the result was more violence, more property destruction, and more damage to businesses and jobs, while political leaders stood by.

In Seattle, city officials not only allowed the creation of a police-free zone, the city actually helped the creators by supplying things like traffic barriers and portable toilets. How did that work out?

Open-carry activist on Sept. 17, 2020, in Lansing, Michigan.(Photo: Nicole Hester/Ann Arbor News via AP)

It was a debacle, despite Mayor Jenny Durkans initially comparing it to a block party.When it was finally ended, Bernstein notes, Durkan admitted that the rioting produced a 525% increase in person-related crime, including rape, robbery, assaultand gang-related activity.

Justice and law reform: Why defunding police, upping social budgets alone won't work

Likewise, in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and prosecutor Kim Foxx established an early policy of toleratingand even implicitly encouragingstreet violence through their lackadaisical response. Bernstein notes, EvenotherChicagoofficials whogenerallysupportcriminaljustice reformhavecriticizedFoxxsreluctancetopursuefelonychargesagainst thosearrested forriotingor looting.

Meanwhile, On a particularly violent weekend in early June, Lightfoot refused to deploy the National Guard beyond Chicagoscentralbusinessdistrict,drawingcondemnationsfromofficials representing districts on the south and west side of the city, which were left unprotected during Chicagos deadliest weekend in sixty years.Over that weekend, twenty-four people werekilled andatleast sixty-one injured by gunviolence,and thecitys911dispatchersreceived65,000callsina single day 50,000 more than normal. As chaos unfolded, one Democratic city councilwoman told the mayor on the phone, My ward is a shit show .... [Rioters] are shooting at the police. I have never seen the likes of this. Im scared.

Bernstein recounts, with heavy documentation, numerous cases along these lines from numerous cities around the nation. In addition, he notes other cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles, where police called in sick to protest the actions of city leaders, leaving citizens unprotected.

Reforming the police: Screams of 'defund police' misplaced. Instead, use military as example for progress.

Even in normal times, gun owners joke thatwhen seconds count, the police are only minutes away.But, sometimes, theyre not coming at all.Sometimes theyre not even allowed to show up. (And, historically, political leaders have sometimes used the denial of police protection to opponents as a means of opening those opponents up to violent attacks.)

Bernstein notes that this is something that courts should take into account when Second Amendment cases are argued. But its also something that the rest of us should keep in mind.In 2020, the police will protect you seemsparticularly hollow.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds, a University of Tennessee law professor and the author of"The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself,"is a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors.

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Riots of 2020 have given the Second Amendment a boost - USA TODAY

Before addressing the subject of this column, I wish to express an opinion on an issue which appeared in the recent grammar school brawl laughingly called a presidential debate. Good Ol Joe Biden followed his partys strategy of denouncing Donald Trump as a crypto-fascist. He seized on the presidents failure to condemn the Proud Boys as a fascist-nazi-racist-nasty hate group. The president yielded the point after the debate was over by condemning this group. I have no knowledge about the ideological convictions of this group, apart from displays of the American flag. All I know is that they have confronted Antifa rioters in Portland and Seattle. I enjoyed watching tapes of the Proud Boys knocking the rioters on their cabooses. I might have enjoyed watching a mob of Quakers doing the job more, but we must all settle for whatever is on offer.

Moving on to a more interesting issue, we can expect a lot of hectic chatter about Judge Barrett and her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Most of the emotion on the subject will be centered on speculation about what positions she may take on hot-button issues. These speculations will not concern her legal analysis. Her opponents and partisans will not show much interest. They are only interested in whether she will arrive at the desired outcomes. Some liberals fear that her Catholic convictions will bend her in the wrong direction. Its not that they object to Catholics as such, Good Ol Joe is Catholic after all and they are comfortable with him. Their problem is with Catholics who believe their churchs teachings.

Barrett is known as a disciple of the late Justice Scalia, who has argued that a Judge who is faithful to his oath of allegiance to the Constitution has to be prepared to accept legal decisions which will make him uncomfortable or, alternatively recuse himself from judgement. This is a reassuring principle but its not conclusive.

Leaving aside her religious beliefs Judge Barrett has a judicial record relevant to the Second Amendment. In Kanter v. Barr (2019) her decision accepted bans on gun ownership by persons

who have a clear record of a history of violence. She argued against a blanket rule that applies even to felons who have no such a record. She wrote that this it was wildly over-inclusive, to ban an honest-to-goodness felon convicted of redeeming large quantities of out-of-state bottle deposits in Michigan. Maine has a law against people importing recyclables for redemption. Its far from unlikely that some undetected scamp has already committed this crime. (Confessing here: I didnt look it up to find whether Maine classifies this malfeasance as a felony.)

Her position on Kanter gives Barrett the clearest record on the Second Amendment of any recent nominee. On broader Second Amendment issues the Supreme Court has ruled that it includes protection of the right of self-defense. Ginsbergs death leaves Justices Sotomayor, Breyer, and Kagan as determined defenders of the governments exclusive right to possession of fire-arms. Since the 2008 Heller and 2010 McDonald decisions which ruled against a governmental power to completely ban gun ownership was passed with five votes, Barretts views are of special interest to citizens who believe in a right of self-defense.

Since the nominee is commonly described as a disciple of Antonin Scalia his ruling on Heller, backed by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Kennedy, Thomas and Alito, is our best guide on how Barrett may interpret the Second Amendment. Dick Heller, a special police officer authorized to carry a handgun while on duty, requested exemption from restrictions on keeping his weapon at home. Under the District of Columbia law he was obliged to disable the gun by taking it apart or fixing it with a trigger lock.

Scalias originalism doctrine argues that the Constitution must be understood by the voters. Judges must read its words and phrases as they are used in a normal and ordinary way.

The Second Amendment reads: 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. He argued that the preface about the militia announces a purpose and that the prefatory part does not limit or expand the scope of the operative part. He pointed out that shall not be infringed recognizes the existence of a pre-existing right, i.e., the Amendment did not create a right, it recognizes a right.

Scalia quotes Justice Ginsburgs interpretation of bearing arms in an opinion she wrote for an earlier case. She wrote as the Constitutions Second Amendment indicates wear, bear, or carry upon the person or upon the person, or in the pocket for the purpose of being armed and ready for offensive or defensive action in the case of a conflict with another person. Scalia reinforced this proposition by pointing out that nine state constitutional provisions written in the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th century established the citizens right to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state, or bear arms in defense of himself of the state.

If Judge Barrett is called upon the decide a Second Amendment case while sitting on the Supreme Court its seems certain that she will follow her mentor in upholding the right of self-defense it was written to protect. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and the other Democrats in Congress are hoping for a liberal judge who will support the views of the liberal judges who will support the dissents in McDonald case when they wrote that the U.S. Constitution does not include a general right to keep and bear firearms for purposes of private self-defense. . . . the use of arms for private self-defense does not warrant federal constitutional protection from state regulation.

Supporters of Second Amendment rights should take note and make their candidates know about their concerns.

John Frary of Farmington, the GOP candidate for U.S. Congress in 2008, is a retired history professor, an emeritus Board Member of Maine Taxpayers United, a Maine Citizens Coalition Board member, and publisher of FraryHomeCompanion.com. He can be reached at [emailprotected]

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Amy Coney Barrett and the second amendment | Lewiston Sun Journal - The Bethel Citizen

In this post, I briefly outlined Judge Amy Coney Barretts impressive dissent inKanter v. Barr, in which she determined that categorical bans on a felons possession of firearms could not be applied to Rickey Kanter, who had pleaded guilty to one count of federal mail fraud for falsely representing that his companys therapeutic shoe inserts were Medicare-approved and for billing Medicare on that basis. Barrett concluded that the federal government and the state of Wisconsin had failed to show that their categorical bans could be applied against all nonviolent felons or that there was anything in Kanters history or characteristics that indicated that he was likely to misuse firearms.

Having run across various distortions of Barretts position, I will go a bit deeper in this post.

1. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), Justice Scalia stated in his majority opinion:

Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

In a footnote appended to that sentence, he referred to these presumptively lawful regulatory measures.

2. The panel majority in Kanter observed that the Court in Heller never actually addressed the historical pedigree of felon possession laws and that the Seventh Circuit had refused to read too much into the Courts precautionary language. (P. 15.) It expressly acknowledged that the Seventh Circuit is among the several federal appellate courts that have left room for as-applied challenges to the federal ban on firearm possession by a felon. Indeed, it cited and quoted Seventh Circuit precedent for the proposition that [W]e recognize that 922(g)(1) [the federal ban] may be subject to an overbreadth challenge at some point because of its disqualification of all felons, including those who are non-violent. (P. 10.)

The panel majority recognized that whether nonviolent felons as a class historically enjoyed Second Amendment rights was an open question:

The first question is whether nonviolent felons as a class historically enjoyed Second Amendment rights. Heller did not answer this question. [P. 14.]

The panel majority ultimately concluded that it need not resolve this difficult question. (P. 19.) It instead proceeded on the assumption that nonviolent felons have Second Amendment rights and held that the felon-dispossession statutes satisfy intermediate scrutiny and can therefore be applied against Kanter. (Pp. 19-26.)

3. Garrett Epps (whose misrepresentation of Barretts position on stare decisis Ive already refuted) is simply wrong when he claims that Barrett asserted thatHellerdidntreallymean that felon possession laws were constitutional. (His emphasis.) The question in the case was not whether the laws were constitutionally permissible; it was instead whether the constitutionally permissible laws could be applied against Kanter. Under Barretts position, the laws remain enforceable against violent felons as well as against any subcategory of nonviolent felons whose convictions can be shown to be substantially related to violent behavior and against any nonviolent felon whose other personal circumstances or characteristics indicate that he would pose a risk to public safety if he possessed a gun.

Indeed, as Barrett points out, her historical analysis indicates that the category of persons who can be disarmed is simultaneously broader and narrower than felonsit includes dangerous people who have not been convicted of felonies but not felons lacking indicia of dangerousness. (My emphasis.)

Ive seen various other claims that Barrett somehow disregards Hellers statement that felon-dispossession statutes are presumptively lawful. Not so. She addresses that statement for a full page (p. 32) and concludes, like the majority, that that statement provides only a place to start: I agree with the majority that Hellers dictum does not settle the question before us.

4. Tweeting on the Kanter case, liberal Second Amendment scholar Adam Winkler has stated that he agree[s] with Barrett and has argued that blanket bans on firearm possession by felons goes too far. Some felonies do not suggest violent tendencies (think of Martha Stewart), and the interest in public safety is not advanced by denying those people their rights. (In the same tweet thread, he says that theirs is not the mainstream position among judges who have ruled on the question so far.) Liberal law professor Alan Morrison expressed a similar agreement with Barrett in this recent Federalist Society panel discussion.

More here:
Re: Judge Barrett on the Second Amendment - National Review