Effective Firearms Regulation Is Constitutional.
'THE sudden death of Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court brought renewed attention to one of his more heralded — and criticized — decisions: District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court, by a 5-4 vote, held that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right “to keep and bear arms.”
The principal objection to tough gun laws is that they violate the Second Amendment. Opponents of gun control cite the 2008 Heller decision as proof that the Supreme Court agrees.
There is reason to doubt the soundness of that opinion. But even if the decision is not reversed, we believe it poses no obstacle for much stronger gun laws. . .
The Second Amendment is the only provision in the Bill of Rights with a preamble, which announces its purpose: “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.” The Heller decision, in turn, described the “militia” not as a formal military organization, but as everyone qualified to keep and bear arms.
The Second Amendment therefore means that all who exercise firearms rights should be “well regulated.” History confirms this: Comprehensive registration laws would not have alarmed those who wrote the Second Amendment. In the early republic, gun owners were frequently required to register their weapons with local authorities. A “well regulated militia,” of course, is subject to rules that ensure firearms are used safely and appropriately.
The Heller decision stressed that the Second Amendment is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” The court described lawful self-defense as “the central component of the right itself.” . .
We doubt that there is any coherent defense for our current Swiss-cheese system of firearms regulation. But if opponents of gun control want to make serious arguments for maintaining the status quo, they should make them without hiding behind the Constitution.'
Abner J. Mikva was a member of Congress, federal judge and counsel to President Bill Clinton. Lawrence Rosenthal is a professor of law at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/opinion/effective-firearms-regulation-is-constitutional.html?
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