2nd Amendment Stands

In a 5 to 4 decision, the Supremes got this one right. They struck down the DC gun ban, and indirectly took aim at similar laws in Chicago, New York and LA.

They affirmed that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual right to firearm ownership and the use of a weapon for self defense.

This is a ground shaking affirmation for 100 million gun owners nationwide. For people such as myself, it is a big sigh of relief. I have rights to carry in about thirty-five states: the combined coverage of my Minnesota, Florida and South Carolina carry permits.

While the decision stops at abolishing gun free zones (which are nothing more that target rich environments better labeled bullet magnets), it does clear affirm my individual right to own hand guns, and that said handgun does not need a trigger lock or to be disassembled. Furthermore, a responsible gun owner is going to have a safe to secure his or her weapons.

Of course, any weapon carried for personal protection is locked and loaded--bad guy beware.

Blowing a bolt

Incidents like the Virginia Tech massacre drive me nuts. In a country of 300 million people plus resident aliens, illegals etc..., there is a certain fraction of people who are just plain crazy.

Yesterday one of them blew bolt and started killing people. We have seen this before, and we have seen stringent rules regarding weapons at schools imposed. What good have they done?

Declaring some place to be a "Gun Free Zone" simply tells the bad guys and the nut jobs that here is a target rich environment where no one will shoot back. We have tried the left's prescription for school violence and it has not worked. Thirty-two victims silently attest this failure.

The shooter was armed with two handguns: a Walther P-22 and a Glock 19. One person armed with one gun could have brought this to an end. Law enforcement has proven incapable of preventing or even adequately responding to these incidents. People need to be empowered to protect themselves, but Virginia law dictates that no one is permitted to carry a weapon on campus.

That leaves only the bad guys armed. This is crazy.