Constitutionality

Today Supreme Court Justices ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Bill of Rights applies to all Americans. Yes, as odd as it sounds, the Second Amendment has long been disputed as whether it is intended for the common citizenry. A common anti-gun (and they might say, pro-life) standpoint is that the Founding Fathers meant the amendment to keep a "well regulated militia" in possession of the means of defense. I will admit that the wording of the amendment is ambiguous, but the intent, I believe, is not.

Retaining the right to bear arms keeps a vital check in place- the power of the masses. Almost never would a person decide to revolt against his government if it stayed within its bounds, and this adds deterrent to gross corruption if politician's conscience or duty fail them (well, conscience has been thrown out for a while. How do we stand on duty?).

The dissent position of the Supreme Court stated that the issue is not specified within the Constitution or its Amendments, and should remain a state or local decision. I stand with the majority ruling that the issue is in print and needed explanation (the usual word interpretation frightens me). The issue at hand was not so much whether guns are a fundamental right of Americans, but whether the Federal Government has in its make-up a provision which supercedes any State's right. For being about 145 years after the Civil War, it isn't very comforting to see that the same issue keeps rearing its ugly head.