Hey Joe, Where You Goin' with that Gun In Your Hand?

The Supreme Court will be hearing a District of Columbia gun control case. It is currently illegal to possess a functioning firearm within the District. You would think, that by this time, there would be a pretty firm interpretation laid down by the Courts, as to the rights of citizens to possess guns. You would be wrong. This issue has been left largely to State and local authority. The wording in the Bill of rights is ambiguous as to whether individuals even have the right to own firearms, outside of membership in a militia. It doesn't define whether the militia would or would not need to be government sanctioned or authorized.

Given the current make up of the Supreme Court and the stance of the Bush Administration on gun control, it is unlikely that the Federal District's current statute will stand. Unless the Court is very clear, on exactly what is allowed in relation to the possession of firearms, this will open the door to many gun regulation cases, to be decided in the future. The NRA and other gun enthusiast groups have been waiting seventy years for a case like this, to get their foot in the door. The fact that the Supremes agreed to hear a case like this tells you something about the caliber of it's current leadership. I thought John Roberts was a pretty smart guy, until now.

Eventually they will have to address the issue of carry, caliber, hand gun vs long gun and the ownership of ordinance currently available only to the military and law enforcement. A slippery slope indeed.

It's been at least twenty years since I've fired a gun. I was a terrible shot even then. I don't think I've magically improved. The gun control laws here in California are only marginally less strict than in D.C. I have no ideological opposition to the private ownership of firearms. I also believe that as long as they aren't concealed, you should be able to carry them on your person. I also believe you should be able to possess anything comparable to whatever law enforcement or the military possesses. It's only fair and equitable.

Saturday nights downtown could get pretty lively, in the future.

It's funny. I didn't even like Jimmy Hendrix in the Sixties. I didn't get him at all. I love his music now. More and more.