Posted on 02/05/2007 8:15:23 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
On New Year’s Eve, my friend and rowing teammate was killed by a gun in Dunbar. Regardless of who pulled the trigger, I blame the gun.
Guns were invented with the specific purpose to kill. People were not. Disturbed people pull triggers, but do not directly send speeding bullets through people’s skin and souls. My friend, University of Charleston alumna Lori Francis, is no longer living because she couldn’t stop the bullet that ended her life.
I wrote the Gazette in 2003 regarding a shooting at my graduate college, the Appalachian School of Law in Virginia. Ironically, I finished that submission two hours before I rode my bicycle toward my Lee St. apartment, past the Kanawha County Board of Education building, which was suffering after-affects of another school shooting. For the second time in two years, a former teacher of mine was shot.
I used to think school shootings followed me. But now, I realize that school shootings rather follow a national trend that shows no signs of slowing. It does not slow because the only solution is one that makes the most sense — but sounds the most ridiculous.
In my 2003 submission, I called for abolition of guns. I cited school and workplace shootings initiated by disturbed people, but concluded by bullets. I continue to call for the abolition of guns for the same reason that left my friend and her parents dead in their Dunbar apartment: Americans are in love with guns and are not brave enough to part with them.
The constitutionality of possible gun abolition would be an issue with many Americans who are law-abiding gun owners. But it is the courts that interpret the Constitution, not the popular vote. The Second Amendment states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In United States v. Miller, the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted this provision to mean that citizens do not have an individual right to bear arms unless they possess “some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.”
In United States v. Warin, the Sixth Circuit provided more context to this interpretation, stating: “Since the Second Amendment ... applies only to the right of the state to maintain a militia and not to the individual’s right to bear arms, there can be no serious claim to any express constitutional right to possess a firearm.” Neither Miller nor Warin has been overruled.
My distant ancestor, Major Gen. Ambrose Burnside, was the first president of the National Rifle Association. Gen. Burnside would have liked Lori Francis. He would have liked her heart and passion. Gen. Burnside would not like, however, what his organization has become and what it promotes. The NRA was founded by some old Army officers disappointed by their soldier’s marksmanship skills. Its purpose was “providing firearms training and encouraging interest in the shooting sports.” It is now a gun-promoting juggernaut that appears to suggest that teachers should be armed to combat the growing number of school shootings. I don’t think my ancestor would approve of the NRA’s solution to stopping violence in America today.
In the late 1990s, you may have seen Lori Francis rowing on the Kanawha River. She rowed hard and never complained. She rowed on a lightweight crew but had a heavyweight heart. She rowed with a peaceful fluidity. Lori will never row again as her dreams were cut short because of a gun. In 2007, more innocent people like Lori will die in West Virginia because of other guns. There will be several school and workplace shootings in 2007. People will die in those shootings because of guns. As usual, no one with power and influence will offer any solutions other than arming more people with more guns.
It’s about time the coxswains of our government do something about the guns that are shooting holes in the boat they command, which we call America. As they continue to promote more guns for more crime, our vessel of prosperity and peace continues to sink. How much longer can stubbornness for a misguided view of the Second Amendment keep us afloat? Sadly, not long enough for our society to ever row like Lori did.
[Burnside is a trial lawyer in Cleveland. He graduated from the University of Charleston in 1999 and was an employee of the West Virginia Senate and Kanawha County Public Defender’s Office.]
Regardless of what nation launched the missile, I blame the nukes. Ban the bomb. Just send Iran, N. Korea notices that nuclear weapons have been banned. Uh, huh, that'll work. If nukes are outlawed, only outlaws will have nukes.
Mark
Yes, people are all good, they never do anything wrong. Human beings should never be responsible for their actions. The gun made them do the shooting! Stop the guns from forcing people to use them as a weapon.
SCOTUS was referring the the arms, not the person.
Despite Miller being a maker of illegal moonshine, and being caught with the sawed-off in the process thereof, SCOTUS never raised the question of whether Miller was connected to a militia - being a citizen, that was a given.
lawyers kill people, kill all lawyers...ooopppps, Willie Shakespeare already said that... I agree.
A descendant of Ambrose Burnsides, a civil war general famous for 2 things. Sideburns, named after his trendsetting facial hair and for being one of the worst Generals in American history. Apparently he had a very strong genetic influence on his ancestors.
This is so wrong and sad on so many levels. Not the least of which is the fact that this drivel came from an individual with a college and post graduate degree.
I got a parking ticket the other day. It's the car's fault
Has Appalachia changed that much? This letter is from West-By-God-Virginia of all places.
Do these people ever think through what they are proposing?
First of all, banning something doesn't make it magically disappear.
Secondly, the logistics involved with confiscating every firearm in the country are too staggering to contemplate, both from a manpower standpoint, let alone the legal and moral issues. How many cops really want to go door-to-door taking away lawfully-purchased guns from angry citizens? That would be the definition of hazardous duty.
That's because Mr. Burnside is unable to think logically. No doubt, he's a product of our gov't schools' indoctrination program, or maybe he's on the payroll of one of the various gun-grabber institutions. Regardless, he's a kool-aid drinking fool and not entitled to have any sensible person read beyond that idiotic remark.
An educated population, being necessary to the enlightenment of an informed state, the right of the people to keep and read books shall not be infringed.
Dear Jeremy:
Ever heard of a jinx? Go look in the mirror.
It's not the guns, it's you.
ancestors=descendants
This is the same ol' saw, devoid of logic, fact and common sense, and heavy on emotion. I doubt he'll win over any converts, maybe sway some of the weak-minded Gen Xers and Generation.commers to whom gun rights is a new issue. The sides are chosen, the battle lines drawn, and all there is left to do is whip up support for the rash of new gun control legislation that will come from this Socialist Congress.
I hope our side stands strong, but the pessimist in me doubts we will. So at this point, buy ammo, get any repairs done to whatever needs it, buy spare parts, and prepare yourselves mentally.
MOLON LABE!!!!!
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Oh now I get it. The guy who shot his friend had no money, the gun company, of course, is a cash cow...
So, in this case, blame the gun!
Barf Barf Barf
Liberal agenda garbage ping.
Translation: I'm a freaking LAWYER so I can dress up my mindless leftist drivel and wrap it up with some pseudo-legalese and therefore what I say matters.
"Guns are for hunting politicians, who through their tyranny steal your rights"
Abraham Lincoln
Miller was never completed, actually. SCOTUS merely remanded the case for collection of further evidence. That the defendant was also a decedant, the case could not continue to an actual final ruling.
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