Americans Against Gun Violence

Kudos to the many brilliant and caring high school students who submitted essays to the annual contest sponsored by the Americans Against Gun Violence.

The topic for this year was how the Heller Decision of 2008, in which the Supreme Court upended 200 years of jurisprudence, has resulted in the death of thousands of our countrymen.

It was my privilege to serve as a reviewer, and I was very impressed by the level of submissions. The winning essays will receive scholarship money for their higher education. Those of us in contact with high school students may wish to inform them of the opportunity to participate in next year's contest. The winning essays from prior years and more information is on the website.

For the curious, the ENTIRE SECOND AMENDMENT reads as follows:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

That's it. The irony is that the justices who insist they are strict interpreters of the original intent of the founders decided that the Founding Fathers, men like Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton, did not mean what they said in the first phrase.

The consequences of the 5-4 decision may be seen in our daily news reporting.