The political almanac (if there were such a thing), is predicting a huge storm beginning sometime in March of 2008 and intensifying through, ostensibly, June of the same year. It is expected to rival or exceed the last storm of such magnitude, which occurred almost 70 years ago. Current models are already in play, and the speculation about the readings will be a topic in the forefront from now until the storm hits.
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The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Heller of course being the plaintiff. The significance of the case is enormous, for it will hinge on the judgement of nine people regarding the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
The District of Columbia instituted a ban on personal gun-ownership thirty-one years ago, a ban the federal appeals court recently ruled was in violation of the Constitution because their interpretation was that the Second Amendment right was an individual right, not tied to service in a militia. That is crucial, since the argument has long been that those not in a militia had no need, and subsequently no right, to bear arms.
To refresh, the Second Amendment is a short one: “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.”
Having fled the tyranny of a monarchy, it is fair to assess that the founding fathers, in reference to a “free state”, could only have intended the freedom from oppression by one’s own government. The only way to ensure that freedom was to be well armed. Without weapons the governed had no way to prevent the governors from imposing whatever they wished upon the masses.
With the way society has evolved over the past two-hundred-thirty plus years, it is now also the general criminal element that must be guarded against, lest they be in competition with the government over who gets to rule the completely unarmed. While there are many, many people in this country who have no firearms, myself included, the critical element is this: no one knows who does or who does not, and therein lies the deterrent that safeguards us all. With a total ban on firearms, every standing house becomes a soft target, and chaos will triumph.
An important thing to remember is that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Heller, it will likely not invalidate the other, more modest restrictions that are already in place by many states, those which are designed to prevent accidents in the home, et al. But look for the argument from the left in this country to play to those fears. The ones they will use to persuade people that, should the SCOTUS rule in Heller’s favor and uphold the Second amendment, they will directly be responsible for small children accidentally blowing their brains out while playing with dad’s gun. Do not fall prey to those tactics.
This is an issue which will affect even those who have never owned a gun, and the effect could be disastrous. Stay vigilant, and stay up to speed with this case. Believe it or not, it could mean the survival of America as we know it.
-Woody
