Second Amendment politics

When Gov. Butch Otter decreed Second Amendment Month in Idaho, we took a closer look at this historic document. “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.”

Although ratified in 1791, it took more than 200 years – in 2008 – to be interpreted, by a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruling, as protecting the individual right to bear arms. The amendment was largely ignored for most of our history. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many American towns and states regulated guns.

In 2008, the court ruled that guns could be used for self-protection. It was a similarly divided, conservative-dominated court that handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 before all the votes were counted in Florida.

Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissenting opinion concluded that the Second Amendment touches on state militia service only. In the earlier case, he stated, “Although we may never know with complete certainty the winner of this year’s (2000) presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation’s confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the law.”

James Ramsey

Sandpoint