America took a step back into the Dark Ages yesterday when the Supreme Court decided every citizen had a right to own a handgun. Courts are supposed to issue judgments, ask but by no stretch could this be considered more than the personal opinions of nine individuals.
Many books have been written debating the meaning of the 2nd Amendment, capsule from both viewpoints, prostate which only highlights the mire of pettiness that has been tossed into the mix to disturb waters that, left to settle, leave no room for doubt as to the clarity of this troublesome addition to the American Constitution.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
If the writers of this single sentence of twenty-seven words truly desired to ensure future generations strode around town toting handguns, they could easily have disposed of the first thirteen:
“The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Clear, concise, and unarguable.
Why then, did they find it necessary to precede that statement with thirteen other words, if not as a necessary adjunct? Quite obviously, the sole reason for the people to bear arms was in defense of the State.
No other reason is cited here.
The concept of Americans carrying guns as protection against their individual fellow citizens was not under consideration by the early law makers, at least, not in the 2nd Amendment.
Whatever justifications there may, or may not, be for sustaining the right to carry a gun today, it does not come from this legislation. The five members of the Supreme Court were wrong in arriving at the decision they did.
It was no judgment, merely personal opinions arrived at, most likely, for political gain.
Over the years, the composition of the Supreme Court has gradually created a metamorphosis from legal to political body. No longer can it be considered a relevant part of the judicial system. The political balancing act that sways first one way, then the other, dependent on the affiliation of the president in office at the time new judges are chosen, ensures politics triumph over justice, resulting in the Court becoming a pawn, or a thorn in the side, of subsequent administrations.
As for the American people it is supposed to serve, they are the greatest losers in this battle between political buffoons of both the left and the right.
Surely, that was the last thing the gentlemen of Virginia could possibly have wished for when they ratified the 2nd Amendment in 1791?
Filed under: “Guns Save Lives”
