The shot heard round the world in 1775 was momentous. But it was only the beginning of a particular struggle to secure rights.
Advocates of the right to keep and bear arms won a great victory in the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller.
This ruling, too, is a momentous event, and one that will ricochet.
And it, too, represents only the beginning of a struggle. The court’s decision leaves the door open to all sorts of possible qualifications and restrictions on the right to protect oneself. But the majority has given defenders of the Second Amendment a powerful weapon simply by acknowledging that this constitutional provision means what it says.
What’s next for those who care about this issue? One thing you can do is formally attest that you agree that the Second Amendment means what it says, and petition our nation’s lawmakers to accept this fact as well. The publishers of the Patriot Post have prepared an online petition to this effect.
It is posted at patriotpetitions.us/second. If you add your John Hancock, you will be affirming that the Second Amendment “was established to define an individual ‘right of the People to keep and bear arms,’ and that there is no more important constitutional issue than that of defending the plain language and original intent of the Second Amendment.”
That’s hitting the bull’s‑eye.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.