06/30/08 The Second Amendment

The Supreme Court upheld the Constitution for the time being in ruling that Americans can keep guns in their homes for self-defense. The right to bear arms has long been under intense debate, with no seemingly gray area in between; you are either for or against gun rights. Many city and state governments will now have to review their gun restrictions already in place. Justice Stephen Breyer voiced disagreement with the ruling in which he said, "In my view, there simply is no untouchable constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns in the house in crime ridden area". Like an onion, the gun control issue has several layers, the obvious outer layers and the not so obvious inner layers; such as, if the Second Amendment is not an untouchable constitutional right, how many other parts of the constitution will be considered rewritable when a current governing body deems it convenient? If we were to agree to relinquish our right to bear arms would we not be agreeing to the loss of all other constitutional rights in the near or distant future?