2018 Selden Society lecture - the Hon Justice Glenn Martin AM on Guns and judges

Antonin (Nino) Scalia was, for many years, the best known member of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was charming, mercurial, polarising and stubborn. Scalia was a member of the court for nearly 30 years until his unexpected death in 2016 at the age of 79.

But, he was influential in other ways. His dissents worked to promote 'originalism' as a means of interpreting the US Constitution. In one of the most influential decisions of the last 25 years, Scalia wrote the majority opinion in District of Columbia v Heller. It was the first extensive decision on the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms. He engaged in a lengthy historical exposition and a grammatical analysis of the amendment. This decision changed the previously accepted understanding of the amendment and it is often mistakenly thought to support the abolition of all restrictions on gun ownership.

The Honourable Justice Glenn Martin AM was in practice as a barrister from 1979 until his appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2007. In 2013 his Honour received additional appointments as President of the Industrial Court of Queensland and the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.