By Alan Caruba
Eighty million Americans breathed a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court struck down the Washington, D.C. ban on gun ownership. Had the Court not supported the Second Amendment that asserts the right of Americans to own guns, the next step would have been efforts to take their guns away and to insure that no one could purchase one for self-defense.
Americans would have gone from being citizens to subjects.
Over the span of thirty years since the ban had been imposed Washington, D.C. had become the murder capital of the nation and, if this lesson has been lost on Americans, then it is surely time to restate it. Where citizens are permitted to own guns and, in those States where they are permitted to carry concealed weapons, the crime rates and, in particular, murder rates fall dramatically.
Some might argue that this is also a racial issue because so much of the violence in our cities is black-on-black with murder cited as a major cause of death among young, black Americans. However, a statement by Project 21, a black activist leadership network has hailed the decision.
“This is a great day for law-abiding citizens of the nation’s capital who have been unjustly been denied their full right to protect themselves and families for over 30 years,” said Project 21’s Deneen Borelli. “Perhaps the government should find a better way to keep illegal guns away from criminals and not law-abiding citizens.”
This Supreme Court decision confirms once again the intention of the Founding Fathers and the intent of the Second Amendment to ensure that Americans have a right to bear arms, i.e., to own guns and to use them for self-defense and as a defense against a government that might turn against its own citizens for the purpose of enslaving them.
The Second Amendment protects not just citizens, but the Constitution because it ensures that it will not be destroyed for those in power who might want to impose a totalitarian regime.
Every day in America, gun owners protect their lives and others against criminals, often by doing nothing more than a show of arms. Where guns are forbidden, the innocent becomes nothing more than victims of criminals and the crazed.
An armed America is a safer America.
The Second Amendment was created in time so unlike today. Today's Second Amendment ruling works against the health and safety of all Americans in 2008. This ruling only shows, once again, how conservative this Republican chosen U S Supreme court is.
ReplyDeleteJoanne, how do you propose to protect yourself against an intruder breaking into your home? Or a rapist? The notion that these crimes are different now from the era in which the Constitution was ratified is weak thinking indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou're far more eager to blame conservatives and Republicans than to consider the reason the 2nd Amendment was considered essential to preserve "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The only rights considered more important than those enumerated in the Second Amendment were freedom of speech, the press, religion, and the right to assemble and seek redress from the government. They are found in the First Amendment.
You need to read the U.S. Constitution. You need a gun!
I have never heard of using a gun as a real solution to any problem. Never! Often intruders use the home owner's gun on them, not the other way around.
ReplyDeleteYou need to agree that others have different opinions than you, not ridicule those that are silly enough to post a comment on your blog, like me.
How old are you? 7? 10? 16? Surely you are not old enough to reason intelligently because to suggest that I "need to agree" with others that have different opinions is to ignore the fact that some of those opinions may be wrong! Not all opinions are equal or was that something you were taught in school?
ReplyDeleteIn your case, you have not yet offered a sensible response to the prospect of being attacked by a stranger or even by someone you know. You are not be ridiculed. You are being asked to educate yourself with facts, not vague scenarios of what might happen if your life is threatened. You are being asked and expected to THINK.
"In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority "would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons."
ReplyDeleteimo, this sounds as if this same argument could be used as the basis to change any part of the Constitution.
The 5-4 vote is too close for my comfort.
Joanne, you are like most liberals. You think the courts are there to implement whatever agenda makes you feel good personally. You need to take an American History course and gain some perspective on for what purpose the Constitution exists.
ReplyDeleteRight you are Robert. That 4 Justices voted to in effect, nullify the 2nd amendment is terrifying, given the probability of the Obamessiah seizing the executive branch and liberals chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee. This might be a short lived ruling when Ginsberg and maybe Kennedy retire soon.
It is always a pleasure to have men tell a woman how she is suppose to think and act.
ReplyDelete