QOTD: Do Guns and Cars Mix?

by Robert Farago

Published: April 19th, 2008

According to Fox News, Florida Governor Charlie Crist recently signed a bill allowing gun owners to keep their [licensed] firearms in their car– even if their employers previously banned firearms from their property. There are exemptions: schools, prisons, nuclear power plants, military facilities and buildings that store explosives. Boca Raton Democrat Ted Deutch wasn't happy with the new law. "This is an attempt to trample upon the property rights of property owners and attempt to make it more difficult to protect the workers in a workplace and those who visit our retail establishments." Columnist Neil Boortz (Somebody's Got to Say it!) rejects the notion. "I’m sorry, but the individual right to self defense trumps private property rights." Agreed? And if you're a licensed gun owner who exercises proper gun safety, is their anything inherently wrong with keeping a gun in your car?

Robert Farago

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Pch101 on Apr 21, 2008
The phrase, “right of the people” is ordinarily a right of individuals, not of the state or a collection of individuals serving the government (in this case, as militiamen). That's consistent with the position that I've outlined above. Individuals have the right to form militias to both defend the country from invaders and to wage war against the government itself if it becomes tyrannical. They can form them on their own volition, without the government organizing them. When the Bill of Rights was drafted, the phrase “keep arms” meant the private ownership and retention of arms by individuals as individuals. It did not refer to the stockpiling of arms by a government or its soldiers. Again, consistent with what I've outlined above. The founders clearly intended to protect the right to keep a weapon ready in the event that it became necessary to form or join the militia. Here is an intepretation, given by a Constitutional scholar - Professor Eugene Volokh - testifying before Congress This, too, does not contradict my prior statements. Individuals have a right to "bear arms" in the context of the militia, The militia can be formed by the people, and is not necessarily limited to a government entity. The constitution delineates and protects our rights. But it does not presume that rights are absolute and cannot be curbed when justified. Again, it is clear that lines can be drawn. What is debatable is where exactly they can be drawn, as there are constitutional limits on how much can be restricted. An outright ban on all weapons under all circumstances would clearly be unconstitutional, but it is also apparent that reasonable laws regulating weapons are permitted by the constitution.

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Windswords on Apr 21, 2008

Geeber, From that last post I would venture to say you know more about the Constitution than the Three Stooges running for president. Kudos.

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B-Rad on Apr 21, 2008

windswords: And if they soley served in executive branch positions (like governor or mayor) that wouldn't be too bad. But, no, they're all legislators!

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Geeber on Apr 21, 2008

windswords, Thank you, but, in all fairness, they aren't as bad as they seem. Working in the legislative arena, I hate to say it, but lots of the "pandering" by members of both parties is because the public just doesn't want to hear the truth about a lot of things. Pch101, I'm sure that we can both find reputable constitutional scholars to support our interpretations. And, given your intelligence and ability to draft succint, on-the-point posts, I'm sure that you can draft rebuttals to whatever I post. We could be at this the rest of the day. I'll leave this discussion by repeating an earlier point. If the Supreme Court, in the Heller case, finds that the second amendment confers an individual right to own a firearm, it will open the door for a rational discussion on regulations and rules designed to improve gun safety, as the "slippery slope" argument against said regulations will be gone. They can be discussed without fear of their proponents moving on to a total gun ban. Which would probably be the best thing that could happen for those who are really interested in improving gun safety. Now, back to cars...

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