Please, Justice Thomas, Preserve my 2nd Amendment Rights

The Honorable Clarence Thomas, Justice

Supreme Court of The United States

Dear Justice Thomas:

I have followed  your participation on the Supreme Court.  I “rooted” for you during the hateful confirmation hearings.  I recall some black “leader’ declaring that any decision on which “Clarence Thomas was in the majority should not be followed.”  Not actually sure how that would work but clearly though you are black, you are not the “right kind” of black man for the position according to that narrow thinking.  This country is fortunate to have your participation irrespective of whether or not your opinion prevails..

This letter is about the 2nd Amendment.  You support it, possibly with more conviction than any of the other justices but to write Justice Ginsburg is a waste of time.  I write you in case you (I flatter myself) pick a statement of mine you find enlightening in the upcoming case against New York City’s abominable gun laws. My letter to you is an individual’s perspective on the importance of the 2nd amendment. I have no idea how the court is going to consider the “A well regulated militia…” clause. My wife discounts my concern defining “regulated” very loosely.  I hope she is right. I have read numerous articles from folks who are scholarly or semi-so and the opinions vary widely. Arguing against what I hope you will decide, I think that clause poses a problem for individual ownership. But here is why gun ownership is important to me. I believe I have a perfect right to defend myself both inside and outside of my home. I do mean “perfect.” It is not the government’s role to dictate which weapons I have a right to use.  I recall three or four black men dragging a guy with a MAGA hat from his car in Chicago and beating him. The ONLY chance that man would have had is a gun. A knife? Not so much! Tear gas? Not so much. A gun would have either chased them away or mitigated any damages they intended to do to this guy. His right to protect himself from injury is again, perfect.

The current administration has been blocked at every turn by left-leaning judges who are determined to keep the borders open.  We know that the immigrants include criminals, especially MS-13. Do I not have a perfect right to defend myself from these evil people?  Of course. I might well not come out on top but I certainly have the right to equip myself to try.

Law enforcement has become politicized; look at Portland, Oregon, Berkeley, California.  Law enforcement did nothing to protect the rights of citizens peacefully protesting or trying to drive across the city. The right to “peacefully assemble NEVER includes jerks blocking normal travel and commerce or assault and battery. Certainly a gun is not the answer to non-violent civil disobedience.  The point is when government decides which rights it will protect and which it won’t I then have the right to assume I cannot count on government if I am in trouble. I live in a quiet area, Saint James, New York, an area where we don’t always lock our doors. However, I own three weapons, all registered.  I value the peace of mind whether or not the left wing thinks I may ever have to use the weapons. The ownership of guns is my decision, not government’s.

To obtain that license, just to have a gun in my own home (Suffolk County, NY) I had to submit an extensive application.  The process included an oral interview, background check, a written statement by three references, a letter from my doctor (I take Paxil as a mood leveler and she had to claim I am not a dangerous individual). I had to report a traffic citation for speeding received even before I moved here.  The police interviewed my wife to make sure I had never threatened her. I do not object to the process as administered by the police. The police were fine. It is the law to which I object. The County law is much like the New York City law you are going to review. I once asked a gent at the police station who was issuing my license for me if I were to witness a mugging, rape, murder in my cul-de-sac and took my gun outside to break it up, would I be violating the law and he said I would. I would risk that and demand a jury trial though I imagine the police would be reluctant to arrest me in that scenario.  Under the law to stop a felony with a gun is itself a felony.  I detest Long Island (that is an “aside”) and used to live in Spokane, Washington.  That state was a “shall issue.” I carried a pistol in my glove box for ten years. Not once did I shoot up a school or a gay nightclub.  What I did do was pull it from my glove box when I saw four thugs about to remove an old man from his car. I don’t know if it was road rage or a car-jacking.  I waved the pistol at them; they retreated to their car and sped away. No harm done; no one shot, old man unharmed. Perfect use of my weapon. Were I a bad guy there is no law on the books that would stop me from acting evil.  What would stop me is a good guy with a gun. This is the country in which we live. Like it or not. We have 10 amendments called the Bill of Rights. The 2nd Amendment is NOT a second class amendment. It is very important to the others. It has often been said that without the 2nd amendment the 1st has no value.

Another deep problem for the gun-grabbing mentality is the question of the risk we take just walking out the door versus gun-related violence.  Gun related suicides being removed from gun death totals (in my opinion suicide is not immoral and should be legal), then gun deaths are half of automobile deaths but we don’t deny people an auto license because the driver MIGHT cause a fatal accident.  Should we not hire the single woman with 4 kids because she MIGHT use more sick time than a married woman with no kids? Should alcohol be banned because people DO drink to excess and then harm others?

In that same community (Spokane) I awoke one morning for my usual early morning trip to the bathroom and noticed what appeared to be a burglary in progress at a neighbor’s house.  I called 9-1-1. Never left my house but it took 35 minutes for the police to respond. That was so long I concluded

they were there, in hiding, watching for an incriminating action.  Nope, 35 minutes. Nice protection! Considering these examples and the time it takes on average for a cop to respond to an emergency, the best bet a citizen has is to arm himself.

Were I at the “negotiating” table crafting legislation, I would agree to background checks (with some retention time limit after which they would

be required to be destroyed), the usual preclusions such as felons (but not white collar crime felons) and places where weapons should not be allowed such as bars, courtrooms, mental institutions.  Notice I did not include schools. Nor did I include licensing which risks becoming a database from which an Obama/Clinton personality could retrieve names in the interests of confiscation. I believe people do not have a right to nuclear weapons or rocket propelled grenades but when the amendment was adopted and the musket was standard for the military it was the same for homeowners.  There is no basis for outlawing semi-automatic weapons or magazines beyond a certain size. The stated logic is that a bad guy is going to do less damage with a musket but the underlying reason is a hatred of guns. Any regulation will later be touted as a foot-in-the-door to further restrictive legislation.

There is no law on the books, anywhere including New York, that has prevented a mass shooting or a domestic death, certainly not the well-publicized shootings.  I once read a quote that I thought ironic, about the laws violated by a mass-shooter, “...including laws that it is illegal to kill people.” Gun grabbers may not like that we have a 2nd amendment but we do and if there were an effort to repeal it I believe that effort would fail...except in California, New York, Oregon or New Jersey of course.  In the meantime, hoping that “A Well regulated militia…” is not a barrier to my owning weapons I want the right to carry my weapon anywhere, subject to the usual reasonable limitations. Part of the law in New York City, mimicked by Suffolk County, is I cannot carry a pistol anywhere except to a listed firing range. One day I hope to own a cabin in Maine and I want to carry my pistol with me, both on the road and to keep it in the cabin.  That New York and Suffolk County tells me I cannot do so is nothing short of the Nazi confiscation of guns in Germany.

You were recently quoted, I think in your wish that the court take up the issue that it is unreasonable that the people who have armed protection, want the common folk to not have weapons to protect themselves.  That hypocrisy thrives, both in D.C. and Hollywood. I recently wrote Suffolk County, demanding they leave their laws in tact should New York try to

short-change the case before you by changing their laws. I want the Suffolk County laws to remain as they are should it be necessary to substitute

Suffolk County as the defendant in place of New York City. In my letter I assumed most of the representatives have concealed weapons and I suggested they relinquish those licenses.  No response, of course. In the perfect world the gun-grabbers would cancel armed security, turn in personal weapons and live with the same concerns we the common folks live with.

USA is a country more violent than many but not because of the existence of guns and thus that has little to do with the 2nd amendment.  I recall an idiot official in Australia warning citizens to not visit the USA after an Australian tourist was killed, in Kansas, I believe, because we have guns.  Oh, okay but that is a rancid view of who we are as a society. Stay home, Australians if you are really that afraid of us. We do not tailor our laws to the standards of your country.

I am a good guy; I am peaceful; I am not violent;  I respect the rights of others but if others attempt to hurt me or my family, I want preserved the right to stop those folks, with lethal force if I deem necessary.

Thank you, sir, for any consideration you give this letter.  You are a good man and Justice. May you live to 100 and remain on the bench.