[O]n Fox News Sunday, Justice Antonin Scalia reiterated just how extremely his Constitutional originalism can be applied. Referring to the recent shooting in Aurora, CO, host Chris Wallace asked the Supreme Court Justice about gun control, and whether the Second Amendment allows for any limitations to gun rights. Scalia admitted there could be, such as “frighting” (carrying a big ax just to scare people), but they would still have to be determined with an 18th-Century perspective in mind. According to his originalism, if a weapon can be hand-held, though, it probably still falls under the right to “bear arms”….
You’d think that the recent massacre in Aurora, CO, would provide some perspective when it comes to the place and role of guns in this country. Sadly, if you’d been thinking that, you’d now be having to admit just how wrong you are. Twelve people dead…and we’re back to justifying why the Second Amendment means the right to bear arms supercedes the right of innocent victims to continue living?
So how far does the right to bear arms go? If you’re Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, it seems that anything you can carry- up to and including shoulder-mounted rocket launchers- comes under the umbrella of the Second Amendment. As a “strict constructionist”, Scalia evidently believes that the right to bear arms- ANY arms that can be carried- is a cherished value more important than life itself. It seems that, in addition to being a “strict constructionist,” Scalia is also an “absurdist.” What else would you call someone whose logic and reasoning would lead him to conclude that a portable thermonuclear device is protected under the Second Amendment?
Where does common sense and the safety and well-being of Americans factor into the equation? How far do we take Scalia’s absurd rationale until we finally admit that it’s time to protect us from the Second Amendment? How more innocent civilians will have to die before Scalia and those who think like him recognize the threat that unregulated gun ownership poses to public safety? Evidently, we haven’t reached that body count yet.
I wonder if we ever will.
