GUNS: Where will ban stop?

Jim Jones, former attorney general and former chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, didn’t even try to explain why a ban of the most popular rifle in the United States would survive a constitutional challenge. All he came up with was “Bad gun. Ban gun.”

Neither the Idaho Constitution nor the Constitution of the United States permit bans of guns just because the bullets leaving the barrel are fast and cause damage. Nor do those constitutions permit bans of semi-automatic guns just because they shoot rounds rapidly.

The Second Amendment wasn’t written merely to protect possession of single-shot .22 pistols for rabbit hunting. It was written to prevent prohibition of weapons of war that citizens would need to defend against invaders and tyrannical governments.

If gun control enthusiasts like Jones are successful in banning the AR-15, expect them to use the same arguments to ban your hunting rifle. They’ll call it a high-powered sniper rifle, a weapon of war. As an artillery officer, Jones carried another weapon of war, a semi-automatic pistol. Will he soon be demanding a ban of your semi-automatic pistols?

DON FLEMING

Pocatello