Limits to right to bear arms

The Supreme Court said the right to bear arms was not unlimited. Because of this, those who want no curbs whatsoever upon their right to keep and bear arms warn of the slippery slope.

Acquiesce to any restriction on gun ownership, they argue, and someday soldiers will be pounding on your door demanding that you surrender your weapons.

When the Bill of Rights was submitted to the states in 1789, the Industrial Revolution had been under way for almost 30 years. Big advancements were occurring in metallurgy and manufacturing processes specific to weaponry. Talk was in the air that one would no longer have to reload after each discharge of a weapon.

While the authors of the Second Amendment could not imagine today’s weapons, they likely recognized that the change in their lifetime could have unintended results.

They allowed the amendment to stand in its brevity. In doing so, they were expressing belief that thoughtful Americans of the future would make the proper adjustments to avoid the slippery slope of utter proliferation of advanced guns and their add-ons.

This would guarantee our right to defend ourselves against an external threat while not becoming a risk to the life and liberty of each other.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Limits to right to bear arms."