…but I do accept comments 🙂 And I’ll even put them in the blog when they’re good ones.
Alli wrote this morning, with regard to this entry:
Re: Bart Peterson is an idiot
Because the definition of militia varies depending on who you talk to, that measure to ban guns in Indy is definitely against the INDIANA Constitution, which is much much clearer:
Section 32. Arms–Right to bear
Section 32. The people shall have a right to bear arms, for the defense of themselves and the State.
http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/inconst/art-1.html#sec-32
And if I remember correctly, my prof said that Indiana courts are much more likely to rule broadly on the right to carry. Not that we expect Peterson to know anything like that, he’s such a prick. He came to the Blind School once, for the opening of of the Moron trail head on campus. Its difficult to meet someone more vacuous than a high school administrator, but boy…. he made my super-intendant look smart. And that is just not right.
My response was:
I suspect you’re right. Additionally, I think in general CCW permits are not legally necessary, because restrictions on carrying weapons violate Constitutional protections. The problem is that you would have to convince a court of that, and that I think would be difficult to do.
As far as the definition of militia is concerned, the Founding Fathers were fairly clear that it meant all able-bodied men, not just those who were of fighting age and enlisted in the military. There are those who say that the militia per se became non-existent when the United States constituted its first standing army, but since the army is not allowed to operate within the national boundaries, I don’t buy into that canard. Others say that the police have replaced the militia, but I don’t buy that either — as an old SF writer once put it, “If your ballots aren’t backed up with bullets, then your democracy is a sham.”
The main reason I haven’t gone to get a CCW is because I really don’t want the government to know I have weapons 🙂
In all fairness, I have to go a little easy on Bart. He’s a friend of my wife’s and I’ve even been in a picture with them (taken at their 30th high school reunion last month). And I like Amy a lot, she’s a sweetheart.
Still — he’s a Democrat.
So it goes. Thanks, Alli, for (ahem) making the host look good. 😉