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Gregory D.
Lee
Read Greg's bio and previous columns here
February 25, 2008
The Second Amendment: What a Difference a Comma Makes
Next month, the Supreme
Court will hear oral arguments in a Washington, D.C. handgun ban case
that could potentially nullify thousands of gun laws on the books. The
case stems from a security guard who was denied a request to keep a
firearm in his District residence for self-protection.
Washington D.C. Mayor
Adrian Fenty recently said that the District’s handgun ban “has saved
many lives since 1976 and will continue to do so if allowed to remain in
force.” How does he measure that? The truth is that murder by handguns
has gone up substantially in the District since the handgun ban was
passed. I wonder how many honest people in the District were killed by
thugs with guns because they were deprived of the ability to adequately
defend themselves.
The Second Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution reads in its entirety: “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.”
What is it about “shall
not” the anti-gun crowd doesn’t understand? For years they have argued
that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to individual gun ownership,
when the comma between the words “free state” and “the right” clearly
shows that the framers of the Constitution were masters of brevity and
were addressing two different issues they obviously did not want
tampered with. Some might not like what the amendment says, but it
doesn’t change the fact that it says it.
Let’s suppose there is
a constitutional amendment that reads: A well regulated free government
health care system, being necessary to the health of the people, the
right of women to have abortions on demand, shall not be infringed.
Would the typical anti-gun advocate suddenly understand what “shall not”
and “infringe” mean? Would conservative pro-gunners argue that abortions
could be regulated, denied or restricted at every level of government?
In the worst case
scenario for anti-gunners, the Supreme Court could negate all gun laws
on the books because the Second Amendment is the gun law of the
land. Keeping and bearing arms shall not be infringed. Gun laws infringe
that right. Any law contrary to that is obviously unconstitutional. The
amendment doesn’t say the right of the people to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed except if you are a juvenile or a mental patient
or live in the District of Columbia. It doesn’t restrict convicted
criminals from keeping and bearing arms either.
The ramifications of
this decision could be enormous. “Keeping” and “bearing” arms are two
different issues. Keeping arms would allow citizens to maintain a
firearm in their residence, tent, vehicle, boat or other conveyance.
Bearing arms could be interpreted as legally carrying firearms in
public. Concealed weapon permits would be a thing of the past because
they are designed by state governments to infringe residents from
bearing firearms.
Should mentally
deranged people, organized street gang members or convicted felons be
allowed to carry concealed firearms? I don’t think so. But they may
suddenly regain that right. The Supreme Court could place restrictions
on firearm ownership the same way it restricts free speech by excluding
libel, slander and yelling fire in a crowded theater when there isn’t
one. But those restrictions came after decades of rulings handed down by
the Court. It seems to me that the only constitutional way to restrict
gun ownership is to have a separate amendment that specifies when a
person loses his Second Amendment rights.
Even if all gun laws
were declared unconstitutional, gun violence would probably not increase
significantly because criminals have never followed gun laws, so why
would they start now?
No matter where you
stand on the issue, it will be exciting to see where the Justices stand
on the literal interpretation of the Constitution.
Gregory D. Lee is a criminal justice consultant and the
author of three college textbooks. He can be reached through is website:
www.gregorydlee.com.
© 2008 North Star
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