After the Parkland, Florida school shooting debate over gun rights and the 2nd Amendment has become heated. Judge Andrew Napolitano explains why gun-free zones are the most dangerous places on Earth and what ‘the right to bear arms’ really means.
The Ash Wednesday massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, seems to have broken more hearts than similar tragedies that preceded it. It was no more senseless than other American school shootings, but there is something about the innocence and bravery and eloquence of the youthful survivors that has touched the souls of Americans deeply.
After burying their dead, the survivors have mobilized into a mighty political force that loosely seeks more laws to regulate the right to keep and bear arms. The young people, traumatized and terrified with memories of unspeakable horror that will not fade, hope that a person bent on murder will obey gun laws.
Every time I watch these beautiful young people, I realize it is nearly impossible to engage rationally with tears and pain, which is why we all need to take a step back from this tragedy before legally addressing its causes.
If you believe in an all-knowing, all-loving God as I do, then you accept the concept of natural rights. These are the claims and privileges that are attached to humanity as God’s gifts. If you do not accept the existence of a Supreme Being, you can still accept the concept of natural rights, as it is obvious that humans are the superior rational beings on earth. Our exercise of reason draws us all to the exercise of freedoms, and we can do this independent of the government. Stated differently, both the theist and the atheist can accept the concept of natural human rights.
by Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
