Right Side of the Rainbow

Do people know that the word handgun is not inconsistent with the word semiautomatic? Or that most of the handguns Americans own are semiautomatics? Reports like this one make me wonder.

True, all handguns aren’t semiautomatics. Some are revolvers. But many people seem to think that semiautomatic means Uzi or AK-47. It doesn’t.

I own four handguns, including two Glocks. All are semiautomatics. Except for the sights, which I replaced with ones that illuminate in the dark, my Glocks are standard issue sidearms that you’ll find in any gun store in the country. They’re the sort of gun that Americans ordinarily keep for self-defense.

A federal appeals court says an anti-abortion group may display near public schools images of aborted fetuses: “The government cannot silence messages simply because they cause discomfort, fear or even anger.”

I believe in judicial restraint. I believe, as Justice Scalia wrote, that a “text should not be construed strictly, and it should not be construed leniently; it should be construed reasonably, to contain all that it fairly means.” I believe that when judges substitute their policy preferences for the commands of the law, they exceed their authority and undermine our democracy. I believe jurists should exercise judgment, and not will.

But now and again, a perfectly constitutional statute shocks the conscience. And when it does, the judge should abandon his role as umpire and take up a bat.

The sign said the area was not only restricted, but also dangerous. Unfortunately, the boy ignored the sign.

Glock Model 30

The National Rifle Association filed suit Friday to overturn San Francisco’s ban on handguns in public housing. The NRA filed the suit on behalf of a gay plaintiff, a resident of the Valencia Gardens housing project, who says he keeps a gun to protect himself from “sexual orientation hate crimes.”

All gays and lesbians should have a gun; the law can’t protect us, or anyone else, from violence. If you have occasion to report a hate crime, you’ve already been victimized. If you’d rather not be victimized, you need a weapon and the training to use it. I recommend a .45 caliber Glock. The one you see here is mine. (And yes, I have a license to carry it.)