ADLER: Needs to amend his stance

I did not attend Adler’s recent Second Amendment presentation at the Coeur d’Alene library. I am responding here to the front-page article about it in the Coeur d’Alene Press.

Adler was presented to us as a constitutional “expert,” so I believe it would be reasonable to assume that he is not naïve on this particular topic. But I don’t believe it is at all reasonable to assume that his academic background would automatically give him an objective viewpoint. His quoted statements appear clearly biased against the private ownership of firearms. Since I unfortunately missed his presentation I don’t know what, if any, evidence he cited to support his claims, but I believe his claims absolutely warrant a response.

As to Dr. Adler’s position that the Second Amendment was historically viewed as a “collective right,” as opposed to an individual right protecting personal self-defense, not only does the most recent Supreme Court decision happen to disagree with him on this, but nowhere in the Constitution does it say or imply anything whatsoever suggesting that any of the peoples’ rights are considered collective rights. Notice that the Second Amendment does NOT say, “the right of militias to keep and bear arms…” It specifically says the right of the “people.” It seems to me that Adler is the one spreading the myths.

Among numerous related readings I would recommend: Federalist Papers #No. 29, where Alexander Hamilton states the merits of people standing ready to defend their rights by taking up arms, Federalist Papers No. 46, where James Madison argues that no regular federal army could ever effectively impose tyranny upon a well armed populace, and Jefferson’s 1824 letter to John Cartwright, wherein he explained that “all power is inherent in the people,” that “they may exercise it by themselves,” and that they “have the right and duty to be at all times armed.”

I would also recommend Virginia’s Convention to Ratify the Constitution, June 1788, in Article 1, Section 8, where George Mason explains, “to disarm the people would be the most effectual way to enslave them.”

Two very important aspects of the militia are: 1) The militia was comprised of the common citizens, and 2) It was not to be regulated by the federal government. Tench Coxe in the Penn Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 notes: “Congress have no power to disarm the militia.”

JAMES BALLOU

Hayden