Last week, when a federal appeals court ruled that the District of Columbia`s gun ban violates the right to "keep and bear arms," the New York Times reported that the judges were "interpreting the Second Amendment broadly." If they had interpreted the amendment in the normal, mainstream way, according to the Times, they would have concluded that it imposes no restrictions on gun control because it has nothing to do with individual rights. This oddly bifurcated view of an enumerated constitutional right helps explain why the gun-control debate in this country is so acrimonious. When one side considers the Second Amendment a nullity and the other side thinks it counts for something, there is no safe middle ground.
Read Original at: Pioneer Press