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June 26, 2008

Gun rights - y'all are nuts

I'm sure everyone has heard about the SCOTUS ruling lifting the Washington D.C. ban on handguns. I disagree with it. In fact, I find Justice Scalia's opinion intellectually vacuous. But I also disagree with D.C's law requiring that rifles and shotguns, while legal to keep, had to be disassembled.

Striking the requirement that rifles and shotguns be disassembled would have met Scalia's claims of a "historical narrative" supporting an individual's right to bear arms since both rifles and shotguns are, by definition, "arms." Which goes to the heart of why his opinion is intellectually vacuous - he treats handguns as necessary to meeting the definition of "arms" without actually coming out and saying so in so many words.

Scalia also argued that handguns are the preferred weapon for self-defense because they allow one to hold the gun with one hand and dial with the other. Setting aside the inherent dangers of holding one's finger on the trigger of a loaded weapon while diverting attention elsewhere (violation of fundamental gun safety guidelines)... I've shot plenty of rifles and shotguns and they are no more difficult to hold with one hand than a handgun is. So that part of his opinion doesn't hold any water IMHO.

I've long supported (and still do) both the limitation/prohibition on handgun ownership AND the individual's right to own and bear rifles and shotguns. Heck, I'd be perfectly fine with us going back to rifle racks in the back windows of vehicles. Just put 'em out there where I can see them and thus make INFORMED decisions based on that knowledge.

We need look no further than the recent shooting deaths of half a dozen people at that Kentucky plastics plant to see why I hold the views that I do.

The shooter apparently pulled a handgun on his supervisor as he was being escorted out of the facility and shot the supervisor dead. It seems pretty obvious that the supervisor didn't know the guy had a handgun on him because they are so easily hidden. Which is why I favor handgun restrictions.

As long as I have a reasonable opportunity to discover for myself that you are packing heat... then I'm okay with it. You have a right to defend yourself and I have a right to defend myself with the knowledge that you've got a gun.

Posted by Kevin at June 26, 2008 12:47 PM