Gun ownership rights
Published on 6/29/2008
Last week's Supreme Court ruling clarified the lawful ownership of firearms for American citizens, something that has been a practical matter since the nation was formed.
Dick Heller, 66, an armed security guard, sued the District of Columbia after it rejected his application to keep a handgun for protection in his Capitol Hill home.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in Heller's favor and struck down Washington's handgun ban, saying the Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns and that a total prohibition on handguns is not compatible with that right.
A majority of the justices correctly sided with Heller against the District of Columbia's ban on pistols (and required trigger-locks on rifles and shotguns). The effect of the D.C. law made a firearm illegal as soon as it was assembled or unlocked.
The Constitution, despite a confusing reference to the militia, means what it tries to say: "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
Like all other rights, the right to have a gun does have limits. The court made clear it wasn't throwing out all registration requirements, federal prohibitions on machine guns, or bans on guns in sensitive places, such as schools, airplanes and courthouses.
The decision should be welcomed by reasonable people on both sides of the gun-control debate. For those who think an armed population is safer than an unarmed one, the decision in the Heller case guarantees that no city, county or state can take away the basic right of gun ownership, even if that's what an overwhelming majority of local voters want.
Now, if the majority wants to disarm the public, they will have to repeal the Second Amendment.
The clarification by the Supreme Court also brings a benefit to those who see the widespread possession of firearms as a growing threat. With the basic right to self-defense out of the debate, those favoring stricter rules on sales, training, registration and background checks can no longer be accused of having a hidden agenda to confiscate all guns.
Nothing in the Second Amendment requires that guns be sold to felons, the mentally ill or children. Likewise, the right to possess firearms for self-defense, hunting and community defense does not include the personal right to own military weaponry.
The federal law makes it clear that an ordinary person may keep an ordinary gun, loaded and ready to use, in the home.
That has been a fact of life in these parts for centuries.
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