Some months ago, after yet another mass or school shooting, an IJN editorial proposed a discussion about repealing the Second Amendment. With every passing week, such a discussion become more urgent.
As of press time, a totally innocent East High School student is in critical condition, having been shot for no reason other than sitting in his car. Luis Garcia is an athlete, a great student, a kid who makes his parents and brother proud.
And his life is on the line.
A former East High School parent told me that so far this year, East has had more “gun” than snow days, that is more school closures due to the presence of weapons or a shooting. That is twisted!
I get it. The people committing these kinds of shootings are criminals. They don’t care if a weapon is legal or not. The argument goes: How does taking guns from law abiding people stop these criminals? In that kind of simplistic equation, it doesn’t. But reducing the number of guns in a society does reduce gun-related crime. Just look across the world for the evidence. In Europe, for example, not only is there less gun violence, but it is largely limited to criminal circles — bad enough, to be sure — but collateral damage is rare.
Second Amendment supporters will say that the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution, which of course it is. And I tend to be an originalist. But no right is absolute, not freedom of speech, not the right of assembly, not the right to bear arms.
As a Jeffersonian, I strongly believe that civil liberties are the cornerstone of our society and that government must work its hardest to uphold the Bill of Rights, which is why I have a big problem with things like the Patriot Act and the ever-encroaching powers of the FBI and NSA. For some reason, when it comes to violating the Fourth Amendment, politicians haven’t been particularly bothered.
Competing rights are an extremely complex and difficult part of Constitutional Law. But one cannot enjoy one’s rights if he or she is not alive. The foundation of our nation is: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Without life, there is no liberty, no pursuit of happiness.
When will we start putting the rights of the victims of gun violence, such as Luis Garcia, ahead of the rights of the gun owners?
Shana Goldberg may be reached at [email protected]
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When there are more guns there is more gun violence. But apparently there is more government anti-semitism. Compare government anti semitism in Europe and Asia over the last 200 years to the US.