Georgia’s gun law denies rights of others
The 9th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
A 2nd Amendment right should not be asserted if another right is being denied or disparaged. Among the most important rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The right to life is being denied by people using guns. The pursuit of happiness is being disparaged by the presence of guns. Children have to practice active shooter drills and are afraid. Others are afraid of going to the grocery store or watching a parade.
Georgia law allows anyone to openly carry a gun pretty much anywhere. And now, a license is not required to carry a concealed gun. These laws contribute to the denying of other rights and therefore violate the 9th Amendment.
ROBERT MONTIGEL, ROSWELL
Justice Thomas expresses flawed opinion in Dobbs decision
In the coverage of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade’s granting the right of women to have an abortion, Justice Clarence Thomas offered a concurring opinion citing three other decisions based on the 14th Amendment that the court must revisit.
Griswold v. Connecticut -- the 1965 ruling granting married couples the right to buy and use contraceptives; Lawrence v. Texas -- the 2003 ruling that criminal punishment for sodomy was unconstitutional; and Obergefell v. Hodges -- the 2015 ruling granting same-sex couples the right to marry.
There is a fourth Supreme Court decision that, like the three Justice Thomas cited, was based on the 14th Amendment of equal protection under the law. Loving v. Virginia -- the 1967 ruling granting interracial couples the right to marry. On this precedent, he is understandably silent.
His exclusion of Loving v. Virginia, which was similarly decided in the same manner as the three he chose, tells us less about his legal scholarship than about the ranting of a bitter old man.
BOB HUDSON, ATLANTA
