2nd Ammendment

Just this morning the US Supreme Court reached what is considered a landmark decision in the interpretation of the US Constitution's Second Amendment.

For the moment, we will not go into the implications of the decision. My current interest is the negative response that the decision received from those who are politically liberal. The mayor of Chicago will be taken as a case study of one of their primary objections. A more detailed account of some of his comments can be found here. However, I would like to primarily focus on this comment:

"If they think that's the answer ... they're greatly mistaken. Then why don't we do away with the court system and go back to the Old West, you have a gun and I have a gun, and we'll settle it in the streets if that's they're thinking."

Underlying this argument, if you can call it that, is the belief that laws can solve all/most problems. If you could only pass enough and the right kind of laws, then all/most problems could be eliminated.

The problem here is that no finite cause/good can cause the will to act necessarily. Thus, while laws can be a good thing, they do not by themselves cause a problem to go away. If it is illegal to have handguns, only criminals will have handguns. They can still get them quite easily from other municipalities that do not have as strict of gun regulation, or they can acquire from other criminals. Laws against owning handguns might prevent some violent crimes, but for many others these laws will only add a minor offense to the more serious one committed with the gun.

Additionally, the lack of a particular civil positive law does not mean that everyone will do the wrong thing in a given situation. Man is fallen, but he is not completely evil. The natural law at least generically guides man to do the right thing in civil matters, and even men with less than perfect motives will do the right thing because it is practical.

Contrary to the mayor of Chicago, I do not see the US returning to the Old West because of this legal ruling. Those who have guns should be trained to be responsible with them, but these same individuals do not become crazed gunslingers just because they own a handgun. The will is a complex thing, and the errant position of the mayor of Chicago tries to reduce the will to a simple thing that is directly motivated by civil positive law.