Archive for the ‘Gun Control’ Category
Guns, the Constitution and Switzerland
A fact regularly ignored in much of the gun debate – the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. In 2008, the Supreme Court revisited the constitutional meaning of the right of the individual to “keep and bear arms,” and unequivocally affirmed our constitutional right of individual gun ownership.
Teaching children to murder
Littleton, Colorado, 1999; Santee, California, 2001; Cold Springs, Minnesota, 2003; Jacksboro, Tennessee, 2005; Cleveland, Ohio, 2007. These are just a few of the 60 school shootings occurring since Columbine in 1999, double previous decades.
Our children, violence, and murder
What is happening to our children? Children with guns murdering children. Does this support the need for gun control, as advanced by the media and the politically correct, both with a fanciful capacity to not allow facts to interfere with their opinions?
Who are the ‘real’ terrorists?
The editorial page cartoon in the April 27, 2009, USA Today showed Uncle Sam saying, “Will you ever stop torturing me,” while he is whipping a helpless terrorist strapped on a table.
The herd immunity of gun ownership
Herd immunity describes what happens when immunizing part of a community provides protection for those in the community who are not immunized. This usually refers to infectious diseases that spread from person-to-person, like measles, mumps, and the like.
“Make my day” gun laws
Guns are back in the news, or perhaps more correctly, still in the news, this time in Colorado. A 22-year-old man drove home with a blood alcohol of 0.26, three times the legal limit. He drove to the wrong house, beat on the front door hollering obscenities when he could not get in, went to the back door beating on it while hollering more obscenities, and then broke a window, reaching in to unlock the deadbolt. At that point, the homeowner, who had been on the phone with police the entire time, shot him twice, killing him.
Concealed carry permits – right or privilege?
This summer the Supreme Court issued its ruling on the meaning of the Second Amendment. I believe they correctly understood the Founding Fathers intentions; affirming that the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” But, they did not settle all issues surrounding gun ownership; including if the government can require more than just a background check to get a concealed carry permit. Pistols and revolvers are common firearms. Therefore, the right to own them is resolved. But, is a concealed carry permit a right protected by the Second Amendment, is it a privilege, or is it both?
“The right of the people to keep and bear arms”
The Second Amendment reads, “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.”
Virginia Tech, one year later
April 16, 2008 is the first anniversary of the 32 people murdered on the Virginia Tech campus. The state of Virginia has reached a legal settlement with most victims’ families. The reactions to this settlement, the ongoing evaluations of what occurred that day, and the many assertions of who is to blame for the tragedy continues.
“I intend to be among the outlaws”
By June, 2008 the United States Supreme Court may offer some clarification of the Second Amendment and the rights of individuals to own guns. But, their interpretation may be so narrow that it has little impact outside the source of the case, Washington, D.C., leaving the rest of the nation still debating gun control.
“A free people…ought to be armed”
Thomas Jefferson said, “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” But did he foresee guns being used in mass murders, the most recent leaving three dead in Colorado? There a gunman killed two people and wounded two others at a missionary training center in Arvada. Later the same day he killed one person and wounded four others at a church in Colorado Springs before he was shot by an armed security guard.
How objective is media reporting on gun control?
The Idaho State Journal recently offered editorial support for gun control, taking the path of most media, assuming guns are a problem and gun control will solve that problem. They referenced the Jason Hamilton murders when they complimented the University of Idaho for banning guns on campus, calling it a wise decision.
