Whats in a (Team) Name?

Meaning? “Well, there is a perception in this country that individuals enjoy the protections conferred by the Second Amendment. But that amendment only confers on states the right to maintain militias. So the individual has no standing in court to make Second Amendment claims. However, Americans tend to believe they do have the right to bear arms. So, it’s troublesome, because whenever you start talking about passing stronger gun laws, a lot of folks—even if they’re not involved in the issue, or vested in it—can invoke the Second Amendment and sometimes effectively take the wind out of your sails.” A stance against rap, says Pascoe, would only bring trouble: “The large number of gun-control groups don’t want to be seen as attacking every element in the Constitution, or more than one. I think that the First Amendment contains rights that we do enjoy—that individuals have First Amendment rights.”

The confusion of rights and responsibilities—of “what you got a right to do and what is right to do,” as the supreme fogey Bill Bennett puts it—is an old one.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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Meaning? “Well, there is a perception in this country that individuals enjoy the protections conferred by the Second Amendment. But that amendment only confers on states the right to maintain militias. So the individual has no standing in court to make Second Amendment claims. However, Americans tend to believe they do have the right to bear arms. So, it’s troublesome, because whenever you start talking about passing stronger gun laws, a lot of folks—even if they’re not involved in the issue, or vested in it—can invoke the Second Amendment and sometimes effectively take the wind out of your sails.” A stance against rap, says Pascoe, would only bring trouble: “The large number of gun-control groups don’t want to be seen as attacking every element in the Constitution, or more than one. I think that the First Amendment contains rights that we do enjoy—that individuals have First Amendment rights.”

The confusion of rights and responsibilities—of “what you got a right to do and what is right to do,” as the supreme fogey Bill Bennett puts it—is an old one.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.