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Gun Laws and the Supreme Court GrassTopsUSA Exclusive Commentary By Rosemary Scheetz 01-04-08 The Second Amendment is under attack again. Some say that if guns are removed from society and remain in the hands of police officers and the military only, crime rates will drop; however, statistics show that this is not true. In fact, guns in the hands of honorable citizens helps to prevent crimes and protect the innocent. This argument seems to be moving in an interesting direction. Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia declared that "[T]he phrase 'the right of the people,' when read intratextually and in light of the Supreme Court precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual." This is in direct opposition to the claims put forth by the anti-gun crowd which declares that the Second Amendment does not speak about individual rights, but only about the right of a state government to have an armed militia. The United States Supreme Court will rule whether or not D.C. laws which prohibit the ownership of handguns within D.C. are an infringement on an individual's constitutional right to "keep and bear arms." The results of this case, expected in March, are causing some anxiety on both sides. Anti-gun advocates obviously do not want any of their anti-gun laws which are currently in place to be overturned, while those people who are pro-gun fear the possible consequences of the Supreme Court falsely interpreting the Constitution, particularly, in regards to the Second Amendment. What will happen if the Court decides that it is not a constitutional right for an individual to own a handgun? The decision could have a drastic effect, causing a ban on handguns throughout the United States. The strict handgun laws already in place will no longer be necessary as no handguns will remain. And contrary to what some believe, crime rates won't drop, criminals will continue to get handguns from the black market and will no longer have to fear armed citizens. Some may argue that it will be impossible for the Supreme Court to rule that the Second Amendment does not provide men and women the right to own handguns, however, remember the precedents the court has set throughout the last thirty years. If a court can rule that a woman's "right to choose" is greater than a child's "right to life," you had better believe that the court can rule that owning handguns is not a constitutional right. Contrary to the wishes of our Founding Fathers, the Supreme Court has become the ruling entity of our Nation. Of the three branches of government, the courts alone are unable to be truly checked and balanced, for all they must do is declare a law to be "unconstitutional" to force their regime upon us. If the Supreme Court so deems, they can take away our rights to own handguns, because apparently their interpretation of the constitution must be regarded as absolutely correct. Rosemary Scheetz is a junior at Christendom College majoring in Theology. Rosemary is active in athletics, particularly volleyball and basketball, as well as school and church activities. You may contact Rosemary at [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
