OMG
In between work tasks, I was finally able to finish reading the thing.
It brought me great hope, joy, and perhaps even a misting of the eyes.
Judge Gould hits the X, repeatedly, and with eloquence.
On the day that SCOTUS upholds the individual right to keep and bear arms, a great burden will be lifted from our shoulders, and we will know that the darkness has been beaten back for a good, long time.
I wrote this a while back, and now I am inspired to share it, for what it's worth.
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An open letter
To the Justices of The Supreme Court of The United States of America
Sirs and M'am,
It is no accident that your titles are that of "Justice", for the courts have often proven to be the last, best hope of honest citizens. It is as an honest, law abiding citizen that I approach you today. I approach you simply, without guile, without lawyers, but with simple and direct words, as a common man and citizen. If justice is not approachable in such terms, if it requires money, arcane knowledge, and such trappings, then a strong baricade exists between common men and justice, which begs then the question as to how justice shall be had.
What I ask of you is neither extravagant, nor complex. I assert, as a peacable human being, and an American, that it is my Unalienable, God given, and Constitutionally Enshrined right to have and carry with me my sidearm, at the times and places that to my considered judgement seem prudent, without fear of molestation by my own government.
But for continual fear of the very real probability of harrassment, bureacratic entanglement, prosecution, and punishment, which would perversly strip me of the very rights I seek to uphold, I would have my sidearm with me, where it is beneficial in the defense of myself, my family, and my community. I assert that my right of self defense exists wherever I stand, and not merely just in my home, and that the effective means to do so is intrinsic to this right.
That I do not do this, choosing instead to abide in the myriad and capricious laws that form an insurmountable barrier between me and the second amendment, in the plain meaning it was intended, compares me unfavorably in my eyes to the example set by the founders of this nation.
For me, and many, many others, peacable, non criminal citizens, the second amendment is simply not a reality. This statement might be shocking, but it has come to that. I measure it in terms of the simple, solid reality of my pistol in my holster, standing peacefully in the street.
For most, this will not happen on any street in New Jersey. Certainly, the laws here provide for a permit to do so, but in practice, they are simply not issued to normal citizens. It is an improbability in New York City, in Chicago, in California, in Ohio and in Maryland, and in the District of Columbia. In Massachussets, more than most places, the "privilige" is frought with traps and dire legal peril. In my case, it took me ten months to even obtain what can only be called permission to buy my sidearm. That which is our right is denied to us by the death of a thousand cuts of law upon law, of bureacrats, of papers sitting on desks, in the unintended consquences of laws of noble intent, and the intended consequences of laws of ignoble intent.
I will not add to this list our own failure as citizens to demand that which is ours. I am a citizen, and I do so demand it. This is the miracle of America, that one man alone may stand and demand his rights, and that even the mightiest must take notice.
In Pennsylvania, I was accosted once, and the threat of a friends arms saved us. In New Jersey, I have no doubt the outcome would have been different. In New Jersey, it is perverse that I must disarm myself before leaving the safety of my home before heading out into the uncertain streets, and on the day that I need no longer do this, I will know that the second amendment, and by extension, the entirety of the bill or rights is worth more than the paper it is written upon. The right that you can not excercise does not exist.
In the name of the failing spirit of the founders, I beg you to help me, and the many faceless others like me. Clarify, today, and as many times in the future as need be, that the second amendment does in fact enshrine for us the uninfringed, personal right to have and carry effective, up to date arms for our own defense. The light is failing, and the shadows grow, and it is thus that I oppose the darkness.
