Welcome a new Gunblogger...

... who calls his blog GunShowOnTheNet. But his latest entry reveals that he is in dire need of some education. Witness:

It is evident that the Federal Government has not only the Right but the duty to perform 'Background' checks on prospective purchasers of Firearms. It is quite apparent that our Founders desired that Firearms be in "safe and sane" hands. That the Federal Government assures that a citizen is indeed capable of possessing a firearm is a matter of Ensuring Domestic Tranquility.

No such thing is "evident". First, the federal government does not have rights; it has powers, granted to it by the Constitution. Second, "ensuring domestic tranquility", despite the appearance of those words within that document, is not a grant of power. It's a statement of purpose, similar to "promote the general welfare", to which those specifically granted powers should be applied. (Unless you want to contend that drugging the water supply with valium is Constitutionally-permissible).

The present prohibition on felons possessing firearms is doubly offensive to the Constitution; it is an infringement of the right to keep and bear arms, and it lacks any Constitutionally-enumerated power from which its authority is derived. While removing or overturning it is both unlikely and probably unwise, only the naive proponents of gun control imagine (usually only for brief moments of supreme concentration, accompanied by a supportive chorus) that it actually prevents criminals from getting their hands on a gun if they want one.

A Constitutional government would lock its criminals up without their guns, preferably for long enough to ensure that they would trod the straight and narrow in the future, and restore them their arms upon release. Those criminals who repeatedly committed violent crimes would find Darwin close upon their heels before long.

While it may be politically expedient to publically voice support for background checks, it is neither effective in reducing crime nor is it sound in principle. Even if prohibitting felons from firearms possession is considered a wise and successful policy, background checks on ordinary citizens represent a prior restraint upon a protected right. We must always remember that it represents a compromise, not a victory.

Posted on 2005-10-26 20:00:23.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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