One Judge Gets It Right

Posted by Larry Miller on March 5, 2012 under How | Be the First to Comment

The phrase “judge strikes down” is used so often to usher in a story of common sense pushed aside in favor of one more form of intrusive idiocy on the part of our government. This time, however, a judge, a US District Judge, actually read and understood the constitution and ruled in favor of the citizens.

In an effort to curtail the ability of it’s citizens to protect themselves by carrying a handgun, the Peoples Republic of Maryland passed a law placing the burden of proving a “good and substantial reason” for desiring such protection. By requiring an applicant to convince members of a hostile Handgun Permit Review Board, they built a structure to decide who could enjoy the benefit of constitutional protection of the right to self defense and who could not.

The good judge, Benson Everett Legg, ruled “A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights, the right’s existence is all the reason he needs.” This is a refreshing change from the subjugation of rights to the expansion and intrusion of government into our lives – for our own good. It brings to mind C.S. Lewis thoughts on the subject, “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive”

“Public safety” cries the Assistant Attorney General. Public safety, they say, is their concern… not individual safety. They seem to think average people, like you and me, have so little self control that we would run amok, shooting each other, innocent children, who have survived their time in the womb, and even more importantly, shooting government officials, looking to control them.

In the back of their little pea brains, these officials – public servants in name only – fear the pushback from the people they are beating down and trying to dominate. Thankfully for them, the common sense of the gun owners extends to tolerating these drones and looking for peaceful means to end their reign.

Just across the Potomac River from Maryland, lies the Commonwealth of Virginia where some time back, the General Assembly took authority from the county sheriffs to grant concealed handgun permits at their discretion. Some sheriffs gave permits to everyone, some to no one and some, only to their cronies. Today, we enjoy the benefits of a law that says these officials “shall issue” these permits if the applicants meet a few simple (and easy) criteria… unless, of course one happens to be a convicted felon, or one who avoided conviction by reason of insanity.

To the chagrin of people like New York’s Mayor Bloomberg, Virginia is not the crime ridden disaster that his city has become. He blames his crime on guns from the Old Dominion. I guess he believes these inanimate objects just sort of worked their way up I-95 and shot up the city, untouched by human hands.

I live in a nice peaceful suburban neighborhood. We gather at the top of a cul-de-sac, break out a grill and have a block party at the first snowfall of the season as the kids enjoy some great sledding. People help each other and look out for each. Yet, should anyone be foolish enough to break into most any of the homes, it could well be the last thing the perpetrator does on this earth.

So, we have a judge who found the constitution to be a guide for his decisions. He is to be appreciated and congratulated. There still is hope… we just need more like him.