Law

The Right to Bear Arms (most of the time)

You may have read about the New Hampshire high school student who wanted his yearbook picture to consist of him posing with his unloaded shotgun over his shoulder.  This has fueled yet another debate about guns and gun control.  I am one of the strongest advocates on this planet of the right to own guns and their responsible use by law-abiding citizens.  That said, I am opposed to the idea of posing in a yearbook with a weapon, or most anything else for that matter.  To be clear, I'm drawing a contrast between what the student may have a right to do, versus what makes common sense.  Most of the people I know can clearly distinguish between the two.

When I and others worked on my high school yearbook, I can tell you that the thought never occurred to any of us to pose with a gun, a car, an animal, or a fruit tree for that matter.  In a much simpler time for us all, we dressed nicely and posed in front of a background that the photographer, not us, selected.  We weren't holding our pet cobras or our favorite water skis either; it was just us for all to see. At that time, if any one of us had even suggested posing with a gun, it never would have made it past the yearbook faculty advisor's office.  That would have been the end of it – no appeal to the Principal, the School Board, the local media, or the courthouse.

What has happened over the years is that many have confused someone's right to do something with what is commonly acceptable, civil, and appropriate under the circumstances. Now I'm sure the student would argue that it's not up to me to decide what is appropriate in this case, and I would agree with him.  However I would argue that his right to own a gun does not give him unrestricted freedom to do anything he wants with it.  Just as the First Amendment does not give someone the right to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, the Second Amendment does not give you the right to carry a firearm onto an airplane.  Reasonable people can agree that reasonable limits can and should be placed on our rights for our mutual protection and our ability to exist as a civilized society.

So, what harm does it cause to pose in a photograph with an unloaded gun not in firing position?  Surely, this is totally passive and not threatening; after all, it's just a picture.  If we take away a student's right to pose with a gun in his yearbook, aren't we stepping on the Bill of Rights and inviting the government to come and take away all of our guns?  Apparently this is what the National Rifle Association had in mind when it came out in support of the student.  My view is that the NRA got this one wrong, and this only undermines its credibility on the bigger picture which is protecting our right to bear arms. If I were in charge at the NRA, I would have issued a statement something like the following:

"While we fully support the student's right to own and use a gun responsibly, we can easily draw a bright line between what he has a right to do, and what he should be permitted to do as a member of his senior class.  As a member of that class, he must conform to reasonable standards and modicums of behavior as determined by school officials. They are not restricting his Second Amendment rights in any way, and if they feel that this photograph is inappropriate for its intended purpose, then the student should abide by their decision." Even people who hate the NRA would applaud such a statement, and it might even garner the organization a sliver of added respect.

Come on folks, are we going to sit here and say that high school students can do whatever they want, whenever they want, while school officials are hand-cuffed to a pole unable to exercise any decision-making authority?  Call me old-fashioned, but reasonable, thoughtful limits on behavior are a necessary element of order and discipline in a learning environment.  While I know that high school will never look like it did to me those many years ago, I also believe that we have gone far astray from what makes good, common sense to normal, ordinary Americans.

My advice to this young man is to call off the lawyers and have a professional photo taken that will commemorate one of the most important achievements of his life.  Save the lawyers for when you really need them; and save yourself some coins in the process.

Freelance Writing by Michael Sanibel ^SM —  Freelance Writer