Outstanding article, and particularly relevant to the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down the DC handgun ban -- but allows licensing requirements, thus effectively turning the right to bear arms into a state-provided privilege to own arms. As noted in the article below, regulation is not consistent with the 2nd amendment or with historical Supreme Court rulings. -- KM


The FACT of the matter is that the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution states quite clearly that "the Right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It's also a FACT that the Supreme Court has already stated in their decision Miranda v Arizona: "Where rights (liberty) secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no legislation which would abrogate (abolish) them."
In Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 US 105: "No State shall convert a liberty into a privilege, license it, and charge a fee therefore."
In Sherer v. Cullen, 481 F 946 "There can be no sanction or penalty imposed upon one because of this exercise of constitutional rights."
In Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham Alabama, 373 US 262: "If the State converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity."

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