Monday, January 28, 2013

The courts have already ruled on the limitation of citizens owning military weapons

 

With the recent uproar about the second amendment, and the renewed vigor of attacks upon "assault rifles" I happened upon the following portion of a court ruling in a case of "Wilson v. state" from an internet search for "gun related quotes from the founding fathers".

The court ruled in 1878 in a case which could never have predicted today's weapons and the growing animosity towards gun ownership, when an Arkansas farmer decided to use a military Colt .44 caliber revolver to shoot hogs!

Here is the portion of interest:

But to prohibit the citizen from wearing or carrying a war arm, except upon his own premises or when on a journey traveling through the country with baggage, or when acting as or in aid of an officer, is an unwarranted restriction upon his constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege.

The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial.

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