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Talk:Essay: The Gradual Destruction of the Second Amendment (view source)
Revision as of 02:38, November 23, 2009
, 02:38, November 23, 2009no edit summary
Jacob, I know you're not finished with this yet, but let me ask the question I like to ask whenever a discussion of the second amendment comes up. Now I definitely feel very strongly that gun control is a bad idea. And having read the second amendment I naturally assumed that all gun control is unconstitutional. However, when it comes to the interpretation of the constitution, I think one ought to interpret according to the original intent of the framers; and having looked into the issue, I don't think that anybody would argue that the framers intended the second amendment, or any other part of the bill of rights to restrict state governments. That said, my question is as follows: do you believe the second amendment should be applied to restrict state governments as well as the federal government? --[[User:BenjaminS|Ben]] <sub>[[User Talk:BenjaminS|Talk]]</sub> 21:19, 22 November 2009 (EST)
Jacob, I know you're not finished with this yet, but let me ask the question I like to ask whenever a discussion of the second amendment comes up. Now I definitely feel very strongly that gun control is a bad idea. And having read the second amendment I naturally assumed that all gun control is unconstitutional. However, when it comes to the interpretation of the constitution, I think one ought to interpret according to the original intent of the framers; and having looked into the issue, I don't think that anybody would argue that the framers intended the second amendment, or any other part of the bill of rights to restrict state governments. That said, my question is as follows: do you believe the second amendment should be applied to restrict state governments as well as the federal government? --[[User:BenjaminS|Ben]] <sub>[[User Talk:BenjaminS|Talk]]</sub> 21:19, 22 November 2009 (EST)
:Absolutely, yes, I think the second amendment should apply to state governments as well. Since 1925's [[Gitlow v. New York]], and in a series of decisions since then, the Supreme Court has ruled that more and more of the restrictions on federal law enumerated by the bill of rights also restrict state government. Soon, we can expect incorporation of the second amendment as a result of [[McDonald v. Chicago]], which has been accepted to the Supreme Court and will be decided sometime in 2010.
:As to whether this was the framers intent, I think not. That is to say, I don't believe their intent was that the second amendment should apply to the states, but I do think their intent was that there would be no law preventing citizens from owning guns - they simply didn't think that a state might wish to outlaw it. Modern liberalness couldn't have been foreseen back then, and so the pretexts of the modern anti-gun lobby couldn't have been, either.
:The textual basis for incorporation stems from the 14th amendment. While the 14th amendment has been abused a thousand times in American legal history, and while ruling that the second amendment applies to states would be, I suppose, "activist," in a very literal definition of the word, it would be very much in the spirit of the constitution and it would move America closer to what she was meant to be. [[User:JacobB|JacobB]] 21:38, 22 November 2009 (EST)