Lawyer Who Wiped Out D.C. Gun Ban Says It's About Liberties, Not Guns

Meet the lawyer who conceived the lawsuit that gutted the District's tough gun-control statute this month. Meet the lawyer who recruited a group of strangers to sue the city and bankrolled their successful litigation out of his own pocket. Meet Robert A. Levy, staunch defender of the Second Amendment, ... said he has never owned a firearm ...
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The Constitution must be protected both from the predations of the well meaning and the machinations of power-mongers. Power and influence, indeed, all duty, responsibility and government derives from the people, and our founders in their wisdom dictated that it would be much more difficult for anyone to take that away and put it in the hands of the powerful if the people were armed.

It should be a symbolic issue. It's the fault of a great many over many decades that in Washington DC, it is a matter of great practical and personal importance to many people.

We must stop believing in the opposite fairies of delusion - that "gun control" and "being tough on crime" will solve a massive social problem. And we must also stop pretending - each and every one of us - that such social problems are the responsibility of "people in authority," the government, that may be solved by restricting the liberties of "other people."

Constitutionally, you and I ARE the government, as is your neighbor and the fellow down the street with a pot plant in his basement. The people who do the day to day paperwork, policy and enforcement are our delegates and if they fail in their duties, it's our responsibility to discuss, examine and correct the matter.

Yes, this decision is going to make things more difficult in Washington, DC. Perhaps there should be some examination of why there are so many people who are so desperate that crime has become a multi generational way of life.

Government should ensure that at the very least, everyone has access to the things they need at a price they can afford, and a path to fulfill their legitimate ambitions, for ALL the people are the power that the Government rests upon, and furthermore - our very system of government recognizes from it's inception that people have the inalienable right to provide for their own needs, even if an oppressive authority objects.

It is "inalienable" in the sense that any law made to restrict that right is both unethical and futile. It is a basic fact of human nature that illegitimate laws will only be recognized in the breech.

But a "gun" is not the only way to wield the power of citizenship. Ideally, it's a tool that's never required - but upon that most practical and deadly of all symbols rests the means to maintain all others.

In this case, it's an individual with money. Money that represents power, that many governments would very much prefer to either co-opt or confiscate. "Plomo e Plata" is a phrase used by many thugs, some of whom carry badges. Their behavior toward the citizens that their authority rests upon should determine the response of a citizen to them.

In my case, it's an individual with a computer. In other cases, it has been a citizen with a cell phone or video camera. In all cases, it''s a case of a citizen who is willing to BE a citizen - a duty with some inherent risks - that keeps our society on track and maintains it in the face of many who would prefer we all bleat praises of the day's Leader in happy unison.

Government serves at the will of the people. This is a fact, true of any government, anywhere, whether or not that government legally recognizes the will of those who have ejected it's agents from their lands, it is nonetheless true that those who are ill-served badly enough and long enough by national governments tend to favor resistance movements and shoot tax collectors.

It is an embarrassment that those people who live in the Capital city of the United States of America are not as safe, as happy and as well secured as those in any gated community; the fact that it is not is an act of criminal neglegence, for it gives cover and connections to people that are our collective enemies.

Bluntly, it is an issue of National Security that the people of Washington DC do not feel themselves a valued asset of the Nation, nor in any wise secure.

Seems there's a body of elected representatives who have the duty to deal with this situation. I think they should spend some time thinking on the matter.