Oren wrote:

Please tell me where. Except for one post I can recall which I
admitted to poor wording, I clearly have said I believe people have a
right to guns under certain conditions.


This is the last time I point out what you said. I'll give the exact
information. You said:

On Sat, 11 Aug 2012 18:39:26 -0500, "Doug"
wrote:

I still am bad if that means I still favor better laws to account
for gun ownership. I don't want "anyone" to have a right to own a
gun no matter how well you word your reply. There has to be some
regulation (perhaps I should say better regulation) of gun
ownership in a civilized world.

The exact words were " I don't want "anyone" to have a right to own a
gun no matter how well you word your reply."

Now you are becoming a liar or a misfit.


In his own unartful way, I think he was trying to say that no "right" is
absolute. If that's what he meant, he is correct.

When a constitutional right is possibly restricted, the Supreme Court
applies the "strict scrutiny" test. These tests a
* Compelling government interest - something important and necessary, as
opposed to something preferred
* Narrowly tailored - it should affect, and only affect, a specific narrow
attribute
* Least restrictive means - a law should not go beyond the specific target

That's the legal theory, anyway.

This kind of stuff comes into most relief when two rights collide. It is
basic that one person's "right" imposes a "duty" on someone else. If this
resultant "duty" interferes with the second person's "right," some choice
must be made. There's the old maxims "Your right to swing your fist stops
at my nose" and "No one has a right to yell 'FIRE' in a crowded theatre."

In the case of gun ownership, we start with the "right" of everyone to
possess a gun. On top of that, we can add laws restricting that right,
subject to the "strict scrutiny" rules above. For example, a government may
implement a law that those incarcerated in penal institutions may not keep a
gun in their cell. Such a rule would easily meet the three strict scrutiny
tests.