Here is a link to the latest issue of Imprimis, which is a publication of Hillsdale College. It has some comforting news, but also some not so comforting bits of information.
The Second Amendment as an Expression of First Principles
A couple of quotes:
Expressing a widely held view, Elbridge Gerry remarked in the debate over the first militia bill in 1789 that whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia.
For the moment, Second Amendment rights seem safe, but in the long term a political defense will be a more effective strategy. As Abraham Lincoln once remarked, Whoever moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions. Shaping and informing public sentimentspublic opinionis political work, and thus it is to politics that we must ultimately resort.
One that could be quite chilling:
The Gun Control Act of 1968 gives the President the discretion to ban guns he deems not suitable for sporting purposes. Would the President be bold enough or reckless enough to issue an executive order banning the domestic manufacture and sale of assault rifles? Might he argue that these weapons have no possible civilian use and should be restricted to the military, and that his power as commander-in-chief authorizes him so to act? Or perhaps sometime in the near future he will receive a report from the Centers for Disease Control that gun violence has become a national health epidemic, with a recommendation that he declare a national health emergency and order the confiscation of all assault weapons.
Congress could pass legislation to defeat such an executive order; but could a divided Congress muster the votes?
The Second Amendment as an Expression of First Principles
A couple of quotes:
Expressing a widely held view, Elbridge Gerry remarked in the debate over the first militia bill in 1789 that whenever Governments mean to invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia.
For the moment, Second Amendment rights seem safe, but in the long term a political defense will be a more effective strategy. As Abraham Lincoln once remarked, Whoever moulds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions. Shaping and informing public sentimentspublic opinionis political work, and thus it is to politics that we must ultimately resort.
One that could be quite chilling:
The Gun Control Act of 1968 gives the President the discretion to ban guns he deems not suitable for sporting purposes. Would the President be bold enough or reckless enough to issue an executive order banning the domestic manufacture and sale of assault rifles? Might he argue that these weapons have no possible civilian use and should be restricted to the military, and that his power as commander-in-chief authorizes him so to act? Or perhaps sometime in the near future he will receive a report from the Centers for Disease Control that gun violence has become a national health epidemic, with a recommendation that he declare a national health emergency and order the confiscation of all assault weapons.
Congress could pass legislation to defeat such an executive order; but could a divided Congress muster the votes?
