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NASA Space shuttle fueling test looks successful
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
PC makers voluntarily supply Web filter in China
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Michelle Obama bringing glamour to Moscow
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Woods and Kim tied for lead at Congressional
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Moyers strong start helps Phillies beat Mets
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Morneau leads Twins in 4-3 comeback win vs. Tigers
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Reports Turkoglu headed to Toronto Raptors
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Federer takes on Roddick, history at Wimbledon
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
Former NFL quarterback McNair killed in Tennessee
Southern Ledger - July 4, 2009 |
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THE BATTLE OVER GUNS WILL CONTINUE.
June 26, 2008 -
July 3, 2008
The ink was barely dry on the historic Supreme Court decision in Heller when the anti-gun crowd started a new assault on gun rights. In Heller the Court struck down a 32 year old gun ban in Washington, D.C. and specifically recognized the Second Amendment as an individual right rather than a collective right.
The Court, in a 5-4 decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, also found a Constitutional right to possess a handgun as a matter of personal self defense: “There are many reasons that a citizen may prefer a handgun for home defense: it is easier to store in a location that is readily accessible in an emergency; it cannot easily be redirected or wrestled away by an attacker; it is easier to use for those without the upper-body strength to lift and aim a long rifle; it can be pointed at a burglar with one hand while the other hand dials the police. Whatever the reason, handguns are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self-defense in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid.”
The gun ban had allowed some residents to own licensed rifles and shotguns as long as the weapons were kept dismantled and incapable of use without first being reassembled. Now citizens will be able to protect themselves with weapons that are ready to use, including handguns – that is, until the anti-gun crowd imposes new Constitutionally -suspect restrictions upon those seeking to defend themselves.
Less than two hours after the Heller ruling was issued, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty stepped before cameras and microphones to announce that he would pursue regulations to impose new licensing processes and restrictions on those wishing to “bear arms” in the nation’s Capitol.
Fenty said he viewed the Court’s ruling as narrowly tailored to guns in the home and emphasized that he believes the city can still bar handguns from being carried outside of the home. The Mayor also indicated that he interprets the case as permitting only revolvers and that “semi-automatic and automatic handguns” remain subject to being banned.
The Supreme Court made absolutely no such distinction in the types of handguns protected by the Second Amendment. The Mayor’s approach signals that despite the clarity of the Heller opinion the anti-gun crowd will use the most bizarre intellectual contortions to continue their fight against the rights of law-abiding Americans.
The D.C. gun ban has not had much impact on the violent tendencies of the criminal thug class. In 1976, the year the gun ban was instituted, there were 135 gun-related murders in D.C. Last year there were 143; and there have already been 85 gun murders in the Capitol this year.
Clearly those who are willing to break the law to kill someone are not particularly concerned about breaking the law when it comes to carrying an illegal weapon. Faced with the sobering prospect that their targets may be able to shoot back, some of the violent criminals in our cities who have preyed on the unarmed and weak for so long may choose a different and less deadly path. If not we may at least see some of these murderous felons weeded out as law abiding citizens exercise the power to defend themselves. That will make our cities a lot safer than an un-Constitutional gun ban that has clearly not worked.
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JUDGES GONE WILD! -
June 19, 2008 -
June 26, 2008
In recent years many black-robed judges have shown themselves to be legislators at heart, as they impose their political ideology and agendas from the bench. Though they apparently lack the willingness, or ability, to win such legislative battles at the ballot box they are able to succeed in both writing the laws AND interpreting them thanks to the weak-kneed acquiescence of the Legislative and Executive branches of government. But having achieved the ability to dictate their will to society at... |
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WILL NEW NASHVILLE CONVENTION CENTER BE NAMED FOR TAXPAYERS? -
June 12, 2008 -
June 19, 2008
The planned new convention center for downtown Nashville is back in the news with the selection of a Maryland-based Clark Construction Group as construction manager. The costs for the project have already risen from a “mere” $455 million when first announced two years ago to what is expected to be an amount in excess of $635 million. The ultimate cost is almost certain to be much higher than that, since public projects seldom come in at the promotional “sticker price.”
In fact, the cost... |
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ECONOMICS 101 REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT HIGH GAS PRICES -
June 5, 2008 -
June 12, 2008
As gasoline prices nudge closer and closer to an average of $4 a gallon there is a lot of hue and cry in Washington about who to blame. The blame game makes for interesting political banter, but it is highly unlikely that drivers will see any relief at the pump coming from the posturing and posing bureaucrats and political hacks in D.C.
The Democrats blame Big Oil, despite the fact that Big Government actually takes a much larger share from the price of a gallon of gas in the form of l... |
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ELECTORAL MAP MAY GIVE GOP A GLIMMER OF HOPE IN THE FALL. -
May 28, 2008 -
June 4, 2008
2006 was a bad year for Republicans. Democrats took control of the U.S.
House and Senate as the tide turned strongly against President George W.
Bush and his party. 2008 has been shaping up as a year when GOP fortunes
could swing from bad to even worse. While some Republican leaders in
Washington have been claiming to see some light at the end of the
political tunnel three straight special election losses in Illinois,
Mississippi and Louisiana in House races that were co... |
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WHAT TENNESSEE BUDGET CRISIS? -
May 21, 2008 -
May 28, 2008
When Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen first took office in 2003 he
inherited outgoing Governor Don Sundquist’s final budget. That year the
State of Tennessee spent a total of $20.7 billion dollars. In the past
several weeks the Governor and the Legislature have been grappling with a
so-called budget crisis that forced consideration of lay offs for 2,000
state employees, elimination of the planned expansion of the Governor’s
pet Pre-K program, and other “dire” cuts in serv... |
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