These are some of the comments that were made after the Supreme Court’s 5-4 Gun / Second Amendment Ruling June 2010 (McDonald v. Chicago)
- Chicago Mayor Richard Daley : “Common sense tells you we need fewer guns on the street, not more guns.”
Mayor Daley suggested the court’s decision reflected a lack of understanding of the tragedies wrought by gun violence … “many of our highest-level officials don’t understand that gun violence pervades America, not just Chicago,” he said.
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Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center, which supports strict gun-control laws, predicted more than a new tide of lawsuits.
“People will die because of this decision,” she said. “It is a victory only for the gun lobby and America’s fading firearms industry.”
- “It’s going to be city by city, town by town, block by block,” National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre vowed … “We’re going to have to work into every level to make sure this constitutional victory isn’t turned into a practical defeat.”
- Justice Breyer read portions of his dissent from the bench … warning the new ruling would interfere with legislative efforts nationwide to control firearms and violence.
- “Just as (firearms) can help homeowners defend their families and property from intruders,” Justice Stevens wrote, “they can help thugs and insurrectionists murder innocent victims. The threat that firearms will be misused is far from hypothetical, for gun crime has devastated many of our communities.” 1
Three questions:
- If not the time for politics, is it time for common sense?
- Is there a right, a freedom, a liberty for young mothers, boys and girls, fathers and sons to see a movie or live in America without fear of random gun violence?
- What of their constitutional rights to life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
– Jerry Guzi
1 USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2010-06-28-gun-rights-supreme-court-ruling_N.htm
