|
Volume
14
Number 3
May-June
2010
Lincoln
Review
Letter®
Editor’s Comment
Supreme
Court Says Gun Rights are for Individuals;
Justice Clarence Thomas Provides a Lesson in Black
History and the Right of Self-Defense
In 2008, in the case of D.C. v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled
that the right to bear arms set out in the Second Amendment really did
apply to individuals and not just to the “well regulated militia” in the
sentence that ends by saying “the right of the people to keep and bear
arms, shall not be infringed.” Now, almost exactly two years later, the
court has ruled, in McDonald v. Chicago, that the right must be
acknowledged by state and local governments and not only by the federal
government.
Heller ruled that the Second Amendment should be construed as a personal
right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes, most notably for
self-defense within the home. It struck down a handgun ban in
Washington, D.C. as unconstitutional. But because the capital is under
federal law, the ruling did not resolve the status of similar bans
elsewhere.
In the last case, Otis McDonald and his fellow plaintiffs wanted to keep
handguns for protection but were prohibited from doing so by ordinances
in Chicago. The court has now ruled that under the “due process” clause
of the 14th amendment, the right to bear arms cannot be infringed by
either the states or the federal government.
Alan Gottlieb, vice-president of the Second Amendment Foundation, said
that as a result of McDonald “the right of the individual citizen to
have a gun is constitutionally protected in every corner of the United
States.”
In his written opinion supporting the right to bear arms, Justice
Clarence Thomas reflected upon black history and the essential right to
self-defense.
|
 |
|
|
|
INSIDE STORIES
Despite Recession, Crime Drops................2
Early Conservative Leader.........................4
South Carolina.............................................6
New Challenges...........................................7
Skepticism of Government Growing...........9
New Golden Age Emerging.......................10
President Obama’s Mark..........................12
M.L. King and J.E. Hoover.......................13 |
|
|
|
|
|
Justice Thomas noted that, “It was the ‘duty’ of white citizen
‘patrols to search negro houses and other suspected places for
firearms.’ If they found any firearms, the patrols were to take the
offending slave or free black ‘to the nearest justice of the peace’
whereupon he would be ‘severely punished.’” Never again, Thomas says.
(continued on page 2*)
Complete May-June 2010 Lincoln Review Letter*
Previous Lincoln
Review Letters
If you would like to receive the
Lincoln Review Letter by mail, please contact
us and provide your name and mailing address with your request.
*This PDF file can be
viewed using Adobe Reader, which is available for free:
 |
