Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at my alma mater a few days ago. After his speech, he sat down for a Q&A with William Inboden, the executive vice president and provost at the University of Texas at Austin.
Those of us hoping for some insider insight into the current antics at 1 First Street, NE came away empty-handed. Thomas’ speech and comments didn’t have much to say about the Second Amendment at all. Of course, it’s possible there was an agreement to avoid questions about the court’s prolonged inactivity.
It was Thomas’ repeated judicial and extra-judicial comments about the treatment of the Second Amendment as a “second-class right” that resonated with me as I read Dean Weingarten’s report on the failure of the Wyoming House to advance House Bill 14, Protecting Self-Defense-Reimbursement.
HB14 would have helped citizens acquitted of charges arising from using deadly force in self-defense. It would have allowed the citizen to recover some of their legal expenses from the prosecuting county and would have applied to both acquittals and dropped charges. There was even a provision to expedite expungement: There would be no records to haunt the citizen in the future.
Though Wyoming is one of the reddest states, House Bill 14 failed to advance. Twenty-nine Republicans voted for it; 26 Republicans and six Democrats killed it. It’s likely cost was a factor. Eight of Wyoming’s 23 counties have fewer than 10,000 residents, and it wouldn’t take a particularly large settlement to bankrupt them.
It’s a pity we can’t cut to the chase and enact this as a federal law. The cost of defending oneself from charges such as this can easily run into the tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars and would bankrupt most people. But any such law passed by Congress would apply only to federal cases. [Note: The one big exception could be clarifying the interstate transportation of firearms under the Firearm Owners Protection Act and adding sanctions like those in Wyoming HB14 to discourage malicious enforcement and prosecution by certain states we all know and loathe.]
In reality, contrary to the “second-class right” meme, a more accurate description would be “steerage.”Steerage is the lowest class of passenger on a ship. It was usually called “third-class,” but in practice it was more like “fourth-class.”
Sounds about right.
The foundation of our system of justice is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Gun control turns this on its head. Far too many politicians and their fellow travelers assume the only reason anyone wants a gun is so they can commit evil with it.
In a similar vein, a citizen should be free to exercise all of their Enumerated Rights unless it can be proven beyond the shadow of a doubt they have misused or abused the right. No prior restraint, such as permits for purchase or possession. No usurpation of property rights by fiats designating private property open to the public as gun-free zones.
Public property is just that: Property owned or used in the name of, or for the benefit of, the public. There must be a compelling reason to deny the public the right to exercise their core civil liberties. Prohibiting members of the public from personally exercising their right to defense, especially when compelled to be in that place, means the government assumes full responsibility and liability for the citizen’s defense. No hiding behind South v. Maryland, Warren v. District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County, or City of Castle Rock v. Gonzales.
It’s foolish to say there are no possible exceptions. Courtrooms when the court is in session; jails, prisons, legislative, county, or municipal chambers while in session or during official meetings.
Prohibitions on lawfully carried firearms in public schools should be subject to the same requirements. A provision for an armed responder at all times on every campus or an opportunity for qualified carry by designated citizens.
One thing an awful lot of people fail to understand — and even more people refuse to accept — is that the Second Amendment is an integral part of the U.S. Constitution, the supreme law of the land. With the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 and the amendment’s incorporation under the Due Process Clause in 2010, the Second Amendment, as written and ratified, outranks every federal, state, county, or municipal law or ordinance.
Massie Tells Senate the Second Amendment Exists to Thwart Tyranny
About Bill Cawthon
Bill Cawthon first became a gun owner 55 years ago. He has been an active advocate for Americans’ civil liberties for more than a decade. He is the information director for the Second Amendment Society of Texas.
