Originally published as:
"MANY RIGHTS, ONE STANDARD"
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/32236.htm
October 22, 2001 -- The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling from New Orleans, last week underscored an important right.
The court found that the Second Amendment to the Constitution permits an individual right to gun ownership - not just an ill-defined collective right seated in state-run militias.
The appeals court wrote that the Second Amendment preserves Americans' "right to keep and bear arms whether or not they are a member of a select militia or performing active military service or training."
The decision, U.S. vs. Emerson, doesn't mean that states can't restrict gun ownership, but it will still be the subject of fierce debate. And it will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court at some point.
The case involved a Texas doctor under court order to stay away from his wife. Was he permitted to purchase a gun?
The court found that a state has the right to prevent such an individual from having a gun - because he was deemed a potential threat.
That is, Second Amendment rights come with limits - just as the First Amendment, for example, does not protect your "right" to falsely shout "fire" in a crowded theater.
So the current ruling puts the Second Amendment on equal footing with the first - no doubt to the disappointment of liberal gun-control advocates.
Bottom line? The Bill of Rights is not a shopping list. One can't pick and choose what you like and what you don't.
This will be important to keep in mind as the constitutional debate sparked by state and federal anti-terrorism legislation gets under way in earnest.