Having written and thought a fair amount about gun policy over the years, I find myself with many things I could say about this week's Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. Chicago. But I'm going to focus on what I think is most important going forward, which is this: the Chicago decision reinforces the Heller ruling's indication that from now on, the Supreme Court Justices will be in charge of all gun policy in this country.

Two years ago, when the Supreme Court was deciding the Heller case, I predicted that if the Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies to private individual's rights, rather than a state's, gun-rights advocates would rejoice in the short term but regret it in the long run. My argument was that, however Heller was written, it was likely to expand in application, which would create a backlash in favor of codifying a more active government role in gun control -- perhaps including a Constitutional amendment.

Sam Yoon, former Boston City Councilor and 2009 mayoral candidate, is moving to the Washington, DC area -- a move, he tells the Phoenix, that comes in part from the sense that he is "radioactive" for potential employers in Boston.

Yoon, 40, has accepted a position as executive director of the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) in Washington -- a return to the community-development work he was in prior to winning election in 2005.

Senator Scott Brown, who I recently criticized for using July 4, patriotism, and the Red Sox for fundraising purposes, has launched another baseball-related fundraising effort -- and this one seems like it might be in violation of state laws against ticket reselling.

I've been trying to get some clarification from the Massachusetts Attorney General's office, and additional details from Brown's campaign and the Spinners, but am still waiting for responses -- and at this point on a sunny summer Friday afternoon, I am pessimistic about getting much before Monday, so I thought I'd share what I know for now.

Despite a barrage of tough stories questioning his role in strip-search incidents, state representative Jeff Perry holds a 16-point lead over former state treasurer Joe Malone in their GOP primary contest for US Congress, according to an internal poll released by Perry's campaign.

The poll, conducted by Public Opinion Strategies June 16-17 among Republican primary voters in the 10th district, where Democrat Bill Delahunt is not running for re-election, shows Perry taking 41 percent to Malone's 25 percent, with a small portion for other candidates and 30 percent undecided.

In this week's issue of the Boston Phoenix -- in print and online now -- I have a two-part column on the general theme of how Massachusetts pols are spending their campaign money.

First, I look at the political consultants. I couldn't help noticing that, even in this year in which candidates positioning themselves as outsiders, anti-establishment, and fresh voices, the consultants being paid to craft the message are mostly the same insiders who have been running the state's political campaigns for years.

I just thought this was kinda funny. Republican state rep. Karyn Polito's campaign for state treasurer sent out a "Press Advisory" yesterday morning touting this:

Former Massachusetts Governors Mitt Romney and Paul Cellucci will hold a press availability with State Treasurer candidate Karyn Polito prior to a fundraising event today, June 23 at 5:15 p.

A couple of months ago I revealed my Machiavelian theory that Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer were talking about pushing immigration reform not to actually pass immigration reform, but to stir up right-wing anti-Hispanic activity, in hopes of a backlash driving up Hispanic turnout in key states for the 2010 mid-terms.

So, here's the thing: I can't understand Charles Rudnick's point.

Rudnick is running against state senator Cynthia Creem in the Newton/Brookline/Wellesley area Democratic primary -- which I'm all for, the more the merrier. And Rudnick seems like a legitimate candidate for public office.

And I'm certainly expecting legislative challengers this year, in both parties, to hurl around accusation and innuendo about the incumbents' role in the DiMasi-Wilkerson-whatever culture of Beacon Hill corruption; that's politics, and as I've said about Lida Harkins, any incumbent who isn't prepared for that, or thinks they're exempt from it just because they didn't personally do anything wrong, is in fantasy land.

White men are up against it today in the handful of primaries and runoffs around the country. Let's take a quick tour:

--Mississippi. One Republican runoff here, between white guy Richard Cook and black guy Bill Marcy for the opportunity to get whupped by black Democrat Bennie Thompson.

--North Carolina. The headliner here is the Democratic Senate primary runoff between "Cal" Cunningham and Elaine Marshall, with the winner to challenge Richard Burr, one of the few potentially vulnerable Republican incumbents.

Senator Scott Brown's campaign office sent out a fundraising email today, inviting donors to submit an essay on "what the Fourth of July means to you" -- with the best essay to be awarded a trip to Boston for a Red Sox game. (During his Presidential campaign, Mitt Romney did something very similar.)

Apparently, Patriotism comes with a price:

Sunday's papers included two interesting pieces on Republican women in this year's election. Since, as regular readers of this blog know, I obsessively cover this topic, I naturally have some thoughts.

The two articles are Susan Milligan's lead story in the Boston Globe, on "the emergence of women across the GOP field"; and a Ramesh Ponnuru op-ed in the New York Times on the rise of pro-life women candidates in the party.

It looks like Republican state senator/LG candidate Richard Tisei has delayed passage of the "national popular vote" bill until next week, but it seems certain to pass soon, after passing the Massachusetts House last week.

I'm not a huge fan of the legislation, and I thought I'd explain why -- in hopes that some advocates can try to set me straight.

I've been keeping you informed on Republican women running for office this year, so I want to make you aware of one whose fate will be decided in an unusual manner tomorrow, Saturday, in Indiana.

This is the Indiana 3rd district, where the incumbent, Mark Souder, abruptly resigned (admitting infidelity) after winning his primary.