Carrying a Gun Is a Constitutional Right

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns the Second Amendment. As most people know, the Second Amendment to the US Constitution is under almost constant attack from people as well as local and state governments who are out to destroy the Constitution. However, courts are now passing decisions that force governments to recognize that the freedom to bear arms is protected. This is good news.

            The ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals of San Francisco recently ruled that Americans have the constitutional right to carry a gun outside of their homes. The decision on Young v. State of Hawaii went through numerous cases, some as far back as the fourteenth century, and came to this conclusion with added emphasis (page 58).

We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence, which the State of Hawaii “has understandably sought to fight . . . with every legal tool at its disposal.” Wrenn, 864 F.3d at 667. We see nothing in our opinion that would prevent the State from regulating the right to bear arms, for the Second Amendment leaves the State “a variety of tools for combatting [the problem of gun violence], including some measures regulating handguns.” Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.

But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. We would thus flout the Constitution if we were to hold that, “in regulating the manner of bearing arms, the authority of [the State] has no other limit than its own discretion.” Reid, 1 Ala. at 616. While many respectable scholars and activists might find virtue in a firearms-carry regime that restricts the right to a privileged few, “the enshrinement of constitutional rights necessarily takes certain policy choices off the table.” Heller, 554 U.S. at 636.

                This case may be taken to the US Supreme Court, but for now we can rejoice in the fact that the ultra-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the right to bear arms publicly. Miracles do happen!