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From John Elwood’s witty Supreme Court Revue:

Another slow-mo moment came in McDonald v. City of Chicago, involving

whether the individual Second Amendment right to bear arms recognized two

Terms ago in District of Columbia v. Heller is incorporated against the states. No

one who isn’t mystified by instant replay (“He dropped the ball again!”) could look

at the still-extant Heller majority and think the outcome here would be any

different, and so it was widely expected the Court would hold the right incorporated.

The petitioners thus decided to use the opportunity to try to revive incorporation

through the Privileges and Immunities Clause, which is not unlike when the

dominant 1985 Bears decided to have rookie defensive lineman William “The

Fridge” Perry throw his first NFL pass during Super Bowl XX. Perhaps as a result

(of the argument, that is—Perry’s pass attempt resulted only in a one-yard loss), the

Court took the rare step of granting argument time to a non-federal amicus—the

NRA—to advocate incorporation through the conventional Due Process Clause

route. Only Captain Renault was surprised—nay, shocked—when the Court held

for McDonald by a 5-4 vote, and the Privileges and Immunities boomlet was over

before it began, as four members of the majority (and all of the dissenters)

reaffirmed traditional Due Process Clause incorporation. Justice Thomas seized the

opportunity to advocate overruling the Slaughterhouse Cases and United States v.

Cruikshank—the last two empty spaces on his “Overrule ‘em All!” punch-card.

Having finally completed the set, he won a toaster.