Once again only one vote dictates freedom or tyrany

Yesterday, June 28, 2010, is a day that will go down in history. Let me tell you why. In a five to four vote the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Chicago gun ban and ruled that:

• The Second Amendment is an individual right and a civil right (like the right to vote for example)
• We, as Americans, have a right to self defense
• Ruled that the US Constitution supersedes state and local law

I'd just like to touch on these three points. First, all the rights in our Bill of Rights are individual rights. When the Constitution says people that is exactly what it means. The people. You and me. For example how could anyone say that the word people in the First Amendment be different than the word people in the Second? People are people right? Sadly, there are congressmen, senators, and even Supreme Court judges who make the argument that the people in the First Amendment are not the same people in the Second or even the Tenth Amendments. Just how they reach that conclusion boggles the mind, but they do. Just one vote certified that the people are indeed the people. That is scary. What would have happened if Justice Kennedy had ruled the other way? I shudder in dread and fear at the thought. Oh, and just one more thing. Justice Sotomayor who was nominated to the Court by President Obama stated she believed the Second Amendment was an individual right but voted for the gun ban in Chicago. So much for those individual rights huh? Here are some links about the case.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald_v._Chicago
• http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/2440144,gun-rights-supreme-court-ruling-062810.article
• http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Supreme-Court-Strikes-Down-Chicago-Gun-Ban--97377444.html

Mayor Daley says he will rewrite the ordnance and this writer believes that most likely what he will do is charge insane prices for training and a license so that the majority of lower to middle class Americans in the city simply would not be able to afford to buy a gun. That is just my opinion but I'll be a bearded gnome if he doesn't try a scheme like that.

Secondly, to affirm that we, as Americans, have the right to self defense all one needs to do is read what the Founders wrote on the subject. See some quotes here. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

The most troubling aspect of this for me is that the Court ruled that what it says supersedes State and local laws. That logic is flawed. The truth is that every State is independent and is a part of a federal republic. That is why the States have constitutions themselves. The United States Constitution is binding on the federal government only. Why you might ask does this matter? Freedom won yesterday, didn't it? No, not really. What happened yesterday is that one vote prevented the death of the Second Amendment and allowed the federal government to cede itself more power. And that is bad news for everyone.