Friday, June 27, 2008

Lock and load

As much as I think there will be a shockingly dramatic increase in handgun violence in the next few years, and as pissed off as I am that Scalia was the driver behind the SCOTUS ruling on the 2nd Amendment, I have to agree with Gene Robinson on this one:

I believe the Constitution is a living document that has to be seen in light of the times. I believe the Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, was right to infer an implicit right to privacy, even though no such thing is spelled out. I think the idea that the Founders' "original intent" should govern every interpretation of the Constitution is loony -- as if men who wrote with quill pens could somehow devise a blueprint for regulating the Internet.

But I also believe that if the Constitution says yes, you can't just blithely pretend it says no. Yesterday's decision appears to leave room for laws that place some restrictions on gun ownership but still observe the Second Amendment's guarantee. If not, then the way to fix the Constitution is to amend it -- not ignore it.

In fact, I agree completely with everything he said in this post.

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