Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

July 1, 2008

Gun rights advocates celebrated the recent Supreme Court ruling District of Columbia v. Heller, which decreed that the Second Amendment forbids ?the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.? Such celebrations are premature, or even misguided.

Writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia acknowledged the self-evident truth that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to armed self-defense. He further pointed out that while that right is historically connected to militia service, it does not depend on it.

Yet Scalia endorsed the idea that legislative bodies can limit the kinds of firearms civilians can own, the places where they can be carried, and the purposes to which that right can be applied.

When government grants a liberty and then restricts the manner in which it can be used, the result is not a right, but a limited, conditional license. Accordingly, far from vindicating the Second Amendment, the Heller decision may fatally undermine it.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.