The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments regarding the Washington, D.C., extremely strict gun law. At the same time, the High Court is expected to rule about the exact meaning of the Second Amendment — does it refer to individuals’ gun ownership rights or does it refer only to the broader state interest in maintaining a militia?
Let me be perfectly clear on how I feel about guns, gun laws, etc.: The United States would be a better country if we could somehow confiscate about 90-99 percent of all handguns.
We can’t do that, of course. The logistics would be exponentially worse than the right-wingers’ call to gather up all illegal aliens and ship them back “across the border” (ANY border, I guess).
Since we can’t confiscate most handguns, I suppose the next best thing is to regulate ownership and even handling of handguns, i.e., various security and safety regulations about storing and using handguns. This, too, is nearly impossible. I am aware, of course, that many people see gun ownership as almost a “divine right” of U.S. citizenship. I don’t. Simply put, the Second Amendment clearly links gun ownership with maintaining a militia. How many of us are ready to respond as a militia, grabbing our guns to march off in defense of the village?
Get serious here. Very few good things come of private handgun ownership, outside of careful, safe target shooting and perhaps some hunting. Most often, handguns lie around unused, or are picked up and misused by kids, or by family and friends against each other.
I’m 60 years old and I’ve never owned a handgun. I have lived in some very dangerous settings where I could have faced harm to myself and/or my family — and not once did I have or need a handgun.
I especially love the arguments people use for “conceal/carry” gun laws: If the bad guys know any potential victim they meet may be “packing heat,” it will deter violent crimes, or something like that. Then I notice in most states which allow concealed weapons, most businesses, schools, churches, government buildings, and other public venues BAN carrying firearms. Which leaves us with this reality: People eager to carry concealed firearms to fell “safe” generally end up carrying them in the trunks of their cars, not having anyplace to go where they can carry the guns.
Ah, well, what do I know? I’m just a guy who reads the papers.
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