Daniel, Chapter 5:

1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote opposite the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, "Whosoever shall read this writing and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."
8 Then came in all the king's wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9 Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were dismayed.
10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house. And the queen spoke and said, "O king, live for ever! Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed.
11 There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him whom King Nebuchadnezzar thy father -- the king, I say, thy father -- made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.
12 Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and interpreting of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts were found in the same Daniel whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called and he will show the interpretation."
13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spoke and said unto Daniel, "Art thou that Daniel who art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
14 I have even heard of thee that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in thee.
15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.
16 And I have heard of thee that thou canst make interpretations and dissolve doubts. Now if thou canst read the writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom."
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18 O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty and glory and honor.
19 And for the majesty that He gave him, all people, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he would he slew; and whomever he would he kept alive; and whomever he would he set up; and whomever he would he put down.
20 But when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever He will.
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart though thou knewest all this,
23 but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of His house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines have drunk wine from them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not nor hear nor know. And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.
24 "Then was the part of the hand sent from Him, and this writing was written.
25 And this is the writing that was written: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing. Mene: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31 And Darius the Mede took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Upon hearing the news that Wilmette, Illinois, has already suspended enforcement of its 19-year-old ordinance banning handgun possession, the first thought to go through my mind was, "Well, at least it is good that some towns can recognize the writing on the wall."

Yes, it is quite true that the Heller decision, finally published yesterday, only specifically address the handgun ban in the District of Columbia and nowhere else. However, even a halfwitted lawyer can easily understand the precedent this particular case set, and how it could easily be used as leverage against other cities' bans and restrictions and such. And, in the cases of smaller cities that probably do not have a terribly large operating budget, much less much money set aside for legal battles they are undoubtedly going to lose, it is simply wiser, and simpler for everyone involved, for them to simply back away from their previous legislation banning handguns, rather than forcing someone to bring suit against the town, costing themselves and the town (and thus the town's taxpayers) an excessive amount of money to no real purpose. After all, with the Supreme Court's precendent at the plaintiff's back, the case would have a foregone conclusion before it even started. And that is exactly what Wilmette decided to do:

"The Law Department and the Police Department have suspended enforcement of the ordinance pending further review by the Village Board," Wilmette village attorney Tim Frenzer said Thursday. "Based on the decision today, at a minimum it calls into serious question the continued viability of the ordinance."

Frenzer said questions remain about how directly the court's decision will impact local gun laws in Wilmette and other parts of the country. Washington is not a state, and each state has its own legal language governing the right to bear arms.

"That aside, the opinion will require further review and discussion by the Village Board, but it's prudent at this point to suspend enforcement of it," Frenzer said.

You will have to excuse Tim for his "D.C. is not a state!" flailing... I will certainly grant him that the District of Columbia assuredly is not a state. However, the Supreme Court's ruling pretty authoritatively declared that the Second Amendment, and thus the entirety of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution it is attached to, applies to D.C., and since the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Second Amendment already apply to the states of the Union (and have for the past few years), the argument is pretty much moot. Like I said, though, you will have to excuse Tim - after all, gun-grabbers around the country are scrambling for new and more-creative ways to work around this disastrous (for them, at least) ruling, so this particular argument was bound to surface at some point.

And, in the same token, you have to give him credit. No pointless, drawn-out, useless case. No screaming and bemoaning. No meaningless cries to repeal the Second Amendment. Tim and the governing body of Wilmette recognized they lost, realized they lost in a perfectly legal, American manner, rearranged their town to meet the requirements implied and stated by the new ruling, and went back about their lives.

If only everyone had that kind of integrity and honesty.

Instead, we have mayors offering to have a duel to settle the "problems" raised by the Supreme Court ruling, state's attorney generals simply ignoring the ruling in its entirety, and every gun-grabbing, hoplophobic, anti-rights organization out there trying to weasel words, make mountains out of microscopic "victories", and generally proclaim victory while being swallowed by the massive jaws of defeat.

Forgive me for my momentary crudeness, but be a fraking man, grow a pair, and at least have enough backbone to admit either that you were wrong, or you lost... or better yet, both. At least then, you will have gotten past the denial phase, and can at least move on to leading a normal, rational life, instead of somehow proclaiming that you won when, in fact, you got your asses summarily handed to you. Because, in case you have not already noticed, the moving hand has writ the writing on the wall... and freedom-loving, rights-supporting, People of the Gun are already moving fast to make it as bold and as permanent as possible. But, hey, at least we People of the Gun are a fair bit more friendly than the Persians and Medeans were...

Hat tip to Anthroblogogy and Say Uncle.