Gun laws should stay in local hands

In countless issues ranging from education to the economy, we hear the same Republican rhetoric when a Democrat wants to create legislation on a federal level.

"Let the communities decide. Why don't we just keep big government out of this issue?"

Or, in the case of the economy, "Can't we let local business regulate itself?"

Well, now we have an issue in which the conservative right supports a top-heavy approach, in the form of a new Supreme Court interpretation of the second amendment.

The last time the high court weighed in on this issue, nearly 70 years ago, the ruling allowed for the states and local governments to come up with their own interpretations of the amendment.

The high court is expected to rule on a 30-year-old handgun ban in Washington D.C. some time in June.

If it rules that this ban is unconstitutional, any local laws could be held up to scrutiny, and many will likely be challenged. Local legislators will be forced to think twice before tightening any gun laws.

Many of these local laws were created to reduce local violence, and many of them work.

If the court overturns the D.C. gun ban, it will do something that many gun lovers always feared -- it will place the power in the hands of Washington bureaucrats, and strip the power from those who know how to keep their communities safe.

As long as Americans have the right to bear arms, it should not come at the expense of municipalities' and states' rights to enact smart, safe gun laws.

This is one issue that local governments truly would know better. Instead of looking at whose rights are violated, we need to concentrate on how many lives are saved.

Matt Brennan

Geneva