Our tireless constitutional watch dogs, sitting in droopy robes within their Greco-Roman temple to the venerable 1787 document, decided yesterday that gun restriction laws written to protect people over the past 127 years may be moot. According to Justice Antonin Scalia, issuing the majority opinion,
“The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.”
“SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C. J., and KENNEDY, THOMAS, and ALITO, JJ., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SOUTER, GINSBURG, and BREYER, JJ., joined. [Our heroes] BREYER, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which STEVENS, SOUTER, and GINSBURG, JJ., joined.”
National Rifle Association VP Wayne LaPierre heaped another stone on the grave of the word “freedom,” so descrecrated by this administration and its Operation we supposedly accomplished five years ago, in saying:
“This is a great moment in American history. It vindicates individual Americans all over this country who have always known that this is their freedom worth protecting.”
My invitation to Justice Scalia et al: Visit Baltimore, and explore the rights our firearms have brought us. Your field trip starts just one street east of the Baltimore Block, on Guilford or Greenmount. Wander up north, admiring distressed woodwork covering windows, and the flair of graffiti on vacant storefronts. Wave to folks enjoying a refreshing beverage in brown paper; observe entrepreneurial activity on the corner. With few inhabitants left, your walk will offer you quiet, if not peace, a startling contrast from bustling northwest Washington.
Baltimore was one of the biggest 10 American cities until 1980. Then, the people bleed beginning wtih the violent riots of 1968 began to accelerate. from 1990-2000, Charm City lost more than 84,000 people. We’re down to a brave 631,000 souls.
Where have all the people gone? Each year during the 1990s, more than 300 people were killed here. Black people, white people, anyone who could get out, left dodging bullets.
Wait, bullets from guns? Don’t guns protect us and ensure our freedom?
Let’s put the sarcasm on ice and eyeball some numbers… According to the Center for Gun Policy and Research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, there is a gun in one in four households. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.3 million crimes are committed with guns every year. There are about 108,000 defensive uses of guns recorded.
Another number: #1 level of gun violence of all developed countries in the world. Our rates are nearly as high as murderous, impoverished South Africa and historically drug-addled Colombia.
Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and sympathizers: Welcome to Baltimore. Pack a thick vest.
A Baltimore Block 