By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
My editors would like me to take a nuanced, clever stance on the Second Amendment.
I cannot.
No means no. Not means not.
Just like the First Amendment.
No infringement on Free Speech.
No mixing Church and State.
No Gun Control.
That doesn't mean that the government cannot tax a newspaper. Or make a rabbi register his car. Or ban possession of machine guns.
But to forbid private gun ownership, like in the law that was declared unconstitutional in the District of Columbia? Clearly beyond the pale.
And don't talk to me about the militia clause. The Founders had just defeated an Empire, thanks in no small part to the rifles and powder horns that hung on the mantle in those Revolutionary-era homes. They wanted to protect their right, and that of their descendants, to defend the hearth and battle tyranny.
Our children or grandchildren may someday want to adjust that freedom, but it will take a Constitutional amendment. I don't see it happening any time soon.
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Reader Comments Read all comments (210)
billy of WA 6:10AM February 18, 2013
billy of WA 6:08AM February 18, 2013
Anonymous of MD 2:23AM April 25, 2011