Happy 4th of July

On this July 4th, let us celebrate the McDonald ruling by checking out this article from the American Thinker entitled Thanks to Otis McDonald and the Supremes by Bob Weir. The article begins with:

The most important job of the government is the protection of its people. That protection involves their physical safety and the security of their property. It means providing police presence to deter criminals before they commit crimes and harsh penalties for offenders whose crimes were not deterred. The fact is that most crimes cannot be deterred because the bad guys don't generally mug people in front of the officer on patrol. Since the police can't be everywhere, people need a way to protect themselves.

That was how Otis McDonald felt when he walked into a Chicago police station and applied for a .22-caliber pistol two years ago. The 76-year-old retired maintenance engineer became the public face of one of the most important Second Amendment cases in U.S. history. As the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Chicago's 28-year handgun ban, McDonald was a sympathetic figure: an elderly man trying to protect himself from violent hoodlums preying upon his neighborhood.

The article makes the obvious point, which we have all known since...well...time immemorial, that when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Gun control laws only affect the law abiding. These fundamental truths are so self evident, that one is hard pressed to ascribe to gun control advocates pure motives.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court behaved sanely when they recently ruled that the Second Amendment to the Constitution gives an individual the right to keep and bear arms. Nevertheless, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, presiding over his personal thugocracy, declared that the Supremes are divorced from reality. "They don't seem to appreciate the full scope of gun violence in America," said the man who doesn't set foot outside his office without a police escort. "

I am often struck by just how many people who can afford armed protection, and take advantage of it, none the less do not want other Americans to enjoy whatever level of protection they can afford for themselves. Remember Rosie O'Donnell, who travels with an armed guard, yet advocates for gun control? How about Mayor Bloomberg. It does seem disingenuous, no?

We all owe Mr. McDonald our gratitude because his courage in taking on Chicago's gun ban has resulted in a ruling that reinforces what the champions of liberty meant when they wrote about not infringing on the people's right to bear arms. We're also indebted to five of the nine justices, who decided that the Second Amendment is the law of the land, superseding local gun control laws. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito made it clear that "self-defense is a basic right ... individual self-defense is 'the central component' of the Second Amendment." Can I have an "amen"?

Go read the whole thing. Also note that Bob Weir is a former Detective Sargent with the NYPD. Many, many rank and file police, military, and others believe as we do. Remember that too.