Limiting of rights is offensive to all
Last week the Supreme Court declared the Washington, D.C., gun ban unconstitutional and in the process made it clear that the rights identified in the second amendment were rights of the individual, just like the rights identified in the First Amendment. We hear a lot about our First Amendment rights. The press frequently reminds us that laws restricting our first amendment rights should be highly limited. It's our right after all, and that means that the government must grant it to us even if they don't like what's being said.

We allow no "common sense laws" to limit freedom of speech because we would never trust our government to define what "common sense" means. We don't let the government ban some topics from discussion or insist that only professionals speak on others. The very idea of allowing the government to limit our constitutional rights is offensive to us all and rightly so.

And now, the Supreme Court has made it clear that we have an inalienable right to defend ourselves as well. There was no mincing of words in the decision; no complex legalese that would be subject to interpretation. And yet in New Jersey our rulers seem determined to ignore that portion of the Constitution, and to keep us as defenseless as possible.

Gun control has its roots in racism. In America it was started as a movement to keep guns out of the hands of freed slaves. And it continues to be at its most vocal in places like New Jersey, where a predominantly white ruling class presides over a large minority population. Even though minorities are most likely to be the victims of a crime, they are also most affected by laws which deny them their right of self-defense. And our rulers in Trenton continue to believe that none of N.J.'s lawabiding citizens are responsible enough to defend themselves, even though it's their right to do so.

But now that the court has ruled that it's our individual right, they must do the same as the government of Wilmette, Ill., and step aside. Since the Supreme Court decision, Wilmette recognized that they were violating the rights of their citizens and ceased enforcement of their "capricious and arbitrary" self-defense restrictions. New Jersey should do the same. Trenton must grant us all the full freedom to exercise our rights. And if they don't, we should take it as evidence that they have the same contempt for the U.S. Constitution as they do for the people who elect them. The Second Amendment is really about civil rights, and the state of New Jersey should now recognize that.

Thomas Costello

Morganville