Sunday, March 25, 2007

The District's Gun Ban

Washinton Post, March 23, 2007, at A16

A couple of years ago, Robert Levy -- a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and an attorney for Shelly Parker, a plaintiff in the lawsuit that challenged the District's ban on handguns -- gave a talk in Orange County, Calif., sponsored by the Federalist Society. In his remarks, he previewed the case that led to the overturning of the D.C. gun ban.

I thought he made a good point with the following example, which I am paraphrasing. He asked: If there were a constitutional amendment that read, "A well-stocked library, being necessary to the literacy of our people, the right of the people to keep books, shall not be infringed," would anyone argue that only libraries have a constitutional right to own books?

Kudos to Mr. Levy and his colleagues for a job well done.