1011 McDonald Understands Liberty
On June 28th, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in McDonald vs. Chicago. Even though little attention was given to it, this decision was important because it inadvertently spoke to the unique character, the exceptionalism, of America.
McDonald originated from a challenge by several Chicago residents to the city’s ban on the ownership of handguns and its severe restrictions on long guns. Eventually, 58 U.S. senators, 251 U.S. congressmen and 32 states supported the plaintiff’s in opposition to the city of Chicago.
With the SCOTUS decision, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear firearms for personal protection was finally recognized as binding on all levels of government. The Court was clear however that restrictions on ownership by, for example, felons or the mentally ill were still upheld, as were restrictions on carrying weapons in certain sensitive locations.
For those who value the ability to exercise one of our most basic freedoms, the battles are far from over. New schemes are constantly developing to make licensing more complicated and expensive. Efforts have long been underway to limit and track ammunition supplies, intimidate consumers with owner databases or reclassify various firearms to make them appear threatening to the general public.
In 1788, a Pennsylvanian by the name of Tenche Cox had a better and less sinister opinion of guns. He wrote, “Who is the militia? Are they not ourselves?” He continued, “Congress [has] no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American…[T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will remain, in the hands of the people.” Cox was not advocating insurrection but was recognizing that American government exists at the behest of the people – a frightening concept for politicians and power brokers.
McDonald also speaks to modern America’s growing love affair with a perverted victim mentality. Modern wisdom dictates that criminals’ behavior is rooted in their being abused by someone or something else: home, society, biology, or just the world in general. Criminal behavior is not their fault. Too often, the victim becomes the villain and the villain becomes the victim. McDonald communicates afresh that victims are truly victims and possessing the instruments of self-preservation does not transform them into villains.
The sad reality is that survival sometimes means being prepared rather than waiting to be rescued. There are about 250 million firearms in private hands and 100 million of those are handguns. Even though, on the average, the total number of guns in the U.S. increases around four million a year, the murder rate has dropped by 10 percent in the last six years. Since the surge in firearm purchases began prior to the 2008 elections, robbery has decreased by nine percent and murders by eight percent. Murder is now at a 45 year low.
The June 28th decision will also help shift responsibility back to individuals instead of inanimate weapons. Over the years, it has become far too easy to allow the gun debate to focus on the thing instead of on the person using the thing. In some circles, the perception almost seems to be that if one assembles metal with plastic or polymers, the object suddenly takes on a heart of its own.
The truth is that flesh and spirit are the problem, not metal and polymer. It is the human heart that conceives of or responds to the deed. It is not the lifeless cold steel that pulls its own trigger.