OPINION:
The Supreme Court should rely on a strict literal interpretation of the 14th Amendment to decide that children born to illegal aliens in the U.S. do not automatically receive birthright citizenship. To decide otherwise will jeopardize the Second Amendment as soon as there is an anti-gun Democrat in the White House and an anti-gun, Democratic-controlled Congress.
It will play out like this: The Democrats will eliminate the filibuster and pack the Supreme Court with leftist anti-gun justices. The Second Amendment will henceforth be interpreted to severely restrict gun ownership. That court will likely rely on the philosophy of original intent in the majority opinion and follow the precedent established when reinterpreting birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment arguably leaves much less room for interpretation than the wording of the Second Amendment, which leftists would fallaciously argue was meant to ensure nothing more than the personal protections now afforded us by the National Guard. (The Democrats will do everything they can to continue on their promise to “fundamentally transform” America and will wreak even more havoc on us than they did under President Biden.)
With a radical leftist government in charge and a packed Supreme Court, think of the dangers to other personal protections delineated in the Bill of Rights.
Should today’s Republican majority in Congress just sit back and let the Democrats have their way later on? No. They should get rid of the filibuster now. Meanwhile, today’s Supreme Court should not grease the skids toward restricted gun ownership, and it should rule on the 14th Amendment accordingly.
ROBERT D’ANGELIS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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