Rights

The great social debate of the day is focused on the right of the people to keep and bear firearms. Some of the people believe that the Second Amendment gives them unfettered right to own rifles, shotguns, pistols and just about any other weapon they desire and to enjoy any and all of the shooting sports. There are also other members of our society that think any kind of "weapon" including a pointed finger should be banned and the user punished.

Obviously the truth of the debate lies somewhere between those two extreme positions. I tend to believe that with few exceptions all qualified citizens have a right to posses and enjoy firearms and I cannot understand the thinking of those who would take away what I believe to be a right. I also believe that if we want to debate the issue all parties need to have a clear understanding of what the word "rights" mean.

To my mind rights can be identified as have either positive or negative positions. If you ask the average person to define the American Bill of Rights they will always identify them as negative rights that are reserved for the people to enjoy and the government is forbidden (and incapable) of taking away from the people.

The people who presently oppose the Second Amendment to the Constitution will loudly identify what they see rights to be. To them a right is a positive obligation of society to all its citizens. The right to an education, food, a job and an income are some of the rights they hold dear. I can't fault their desires, I just find it counter-productive to believe that things that can be achieved by personal effort should be given us by the state. It is society's job to present opportunity to the individual, not give him a handout.

If those rights are so important I believe the reason the writers of the Constitution did not enumerate them is that they saw those rights as a positive value, and one that could only lead to a centralized and controlling government. They had just fought a war and created a new nation over that issue and certainly did not want to create our own monster.

I believe the society and members of those who created our country were far wiser than many of today's society give them credit for. So if you don't mind, I'll stick with the negative values of the Bill of Rights and refuse to "improve" them as some of our politicians want us to do.