Gun Control

By: grettaclue Mood: disappointed Date: 06/27/2008 10:23:49 Music: Rage Against The Machine

Dear US Supreme Court,

In light of yesterday's court ruling following by Mr. Scalia's charming letter to the people of this free country, I feel compelled to write a letter back.

I must preface this letter with saying that I neither consider myself a leftist nor have much interest in gun control.  What I do consider myself is a novice historian and a concerned citizen of the Country I call my home.  I am concerned because of a government and court system that abuses its powers.  I am concerned for a country that mis-uses its own Constitution.

The original understanding of the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment, was reflected in the Bill’s preamble. That preamble says that the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution “in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its [that is, the federal government’s] powers.” It was not about empowering federal judges to strike down state laws, in other words, but about limiting federal power.

The Supreme Court reflected this understanding in the 1833 case of Barron v. Baltimore (1833). There, for a unanimous Court, Chief Justice John Marshall said that the Bill of Rights limited only the powers of the federal government, not those of the states. This was the only significant decision in which Marshall came out for a limitation on federal power; he did so because what he was saying was indisputable.

Yesterday's decision was ruling against the original understanding of the Second Amendment and for that I am extremely disappointed.

Thank you for your time,

Gretta