June 26: Supremes Don't Surprise

By Sylvia Gurinsky

I don't agree with the five Supreme Court justices that said Amendment 2 of the United States Constitution goes beyond a militia, but I'm not surprised by their decision:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080626/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_guns

They do leave room for gun control regulations, but no blanket laws like the one that prohibited Washington, D.C. residents from owning handguns.

Keep in mind the problems Washington has had for years with its homicide rate; that's the atmosphere that prompted the ban in 1976. The homicide rate had been going down before going back up last year, and one must wonder whether the bad economy might play a role in that rate staying up for a while - and not just in Washington.

At the U.S. Conference of Mayors convention in Miami last weekend, a number of mayors, and Sen. Barack Obama, stressed the decline in support by the federal government of the cities. This includes less funding for measures that could prevent homicides.

The decision of five Supreme Court justices will not, by itself, prompt someone to go to a gun shop or gun show. But it creates an atmosphere that makes it tougher to eliminate ridiculous laws, like the new one in Florida allowing people to take guns to the workplace if they keep them in their cars.

Once again, victims of gun violence are the losers today.