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Thoughts on "An Airweight for Airheads"
by A.X. Perez
perez180ehs@hotmail.com

Attribute to The Libertarian Enterprise

Recently (July 29th, 2008) Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (jpfo.org) published an article by L. Neil Smith titled "Popgun Parade" regarding the Heller decision. (see [this link] or just go to the JPFO website, read their article entitled " An Airweight for Airheads" which has a link to Mr. Smith's article and follow that link.)

Mr. Smith has given me permission to share this response to his article with the readers of TLE. Enjoy.

If you think about it, we had to expect an inadequate decision in Heller. Supreme Court Justices are ultimately politicians. The point of the 2nd Amendment is that politicians can only be trusted with guns pointed at their heads, and most probably not even then. No one wants to admit you have a moral or legal right to hold a gun to their heads. Surprise, surprise!! They admitted the bare minimum they could get away with.

Obviously we have to keep pushing to build up on this victory, limited as it is. Meanwhile please note that in his dissent Justice Stevens stated that the Constitution did not enshrine a right to self defense. Besides showing an incredible lack of common sense and understanding of the Ninth Amendment it shows a total lack of regard for any kind of human rights.

According to earlier Court decisions we do not have an individual right to having our lives protected by the police. Now Justice Stevens has said we don't have an individual right to protect our lives. Presumably this is how the American Left (at least those who really believe in gun control as opposed to those who support it out of "ride for the brand" loyalty to their cause) feel. Common folk don't have the right to be defended by police or by themselves. Common folk like you, your readers and everyone else don't have a right to live, only extremely conditional permission.

Apparently they don't believe governments are instituted among men to protect certain unalienable rights. While I am inclined to try to talk most statists into coming over to the libertarian cause, (a point at least one reader of TLE and I disagree on) and assume they are well meaning fools who simply have never been properly shown the light, Justice Stevens and those who share his point of view are only entitled to a hundred yard head start to the border, not because they deserve it but because it would demean us not to give them a chance to run. With any luck they'll choose to stand and fight and give us some target practice.

Heller is one of the first SC decisions based in even a limited way on the theory that the Constitution actually means what it says, and even so everything possible was done to get out that (it does "enshrine," to use Justice Stevens word, the concept of "reasonable regulation."). We must push to make sure that this standard is once again applied to all the other guarantees of our other freedoms.

Because if we don't eventually we'll be the ones asking for that hundred yards.

PS. If you don't know this song from the tail end of the Sixties, google the song "Two Hangmen" when you get a chance.

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