The five Supremes - as in the U.S. Supreme Court - need to be thanked for doing what our forefathers intended more than 225 years ago. That being, declaring that all law-abiding Americans have a constitutional right to own firearms. Including handguns.
Why it has taken a couple of centuries to get to this point is anyone guess. Maybe it's because Second Amendment rights activists were waiting for the Court to tilt more conservative.
Or perhaps it is because the Supremes finally came to their senses. But the Court on Monday did the right thing, regardless of its long-awaited decision.
Unfortunately the decision is going to be followed by a flood of further legal challenges. Places like Chicago are going to pull out all the stops to ensure that while its citizens can technically own a handgun those looking to do so will be required to jump through a heck of a lot of hoops. Very possibly to the point where a candidate will simply throw up his- or her - hands and say it is not worth the effort.
That situation has raised its ugly head in Washington, D.C. and it very likely will spread.
Too, more than a few lower court decisions have made firearms ownership - especially handgun ownership - a trying or taxing proposition.
Now is not the time that proponents of the Second Amendment to dismantle their efforts in protecting their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. If anything the work will become more challenging and more costly. And there will be setbacks.
Gun owners can cheer this victory but the work of protecting what they've earned will continue to go on without end.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
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