Goodness, what is going on in this democracy? Last week the State Senate followed the lead of the Assembly and overwhelmingly passed the Junior Hunting and Trapping bill which would allow adult-mentored young outdoors people to hunt big game at age 14. And then the Supreme Court rules that the Second Amendment is an “individual right” that allows all law-abiding and mentally sound citizens to own a firearm, should they so choose.
The landmark decision by the Supreme Court regarding the “lawful meaning” of the Second Amendment should be cause for everyone, gun owner or not, to feel proud to be an American (although criminals may not think so). There’s been so much written and spoken, both pro and con, since the ruling’s announcement, we might tend to forget that the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as this democracy’s Bill of Rights. And they are intended to be the rights of the individual citizens, and that government is prohibited from riding roughshod over them.
Stop and consider just how critical these first ten Amendments are, regardless of the times, and also how foresighted our founders were in adopting them, knowing well enough that these ten individual rights were then and still are insurance that our government could never evolve into a Totalitarianism where it regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life (although I know it often seems that way these days). And they also had faith in the nation’s population that, given these rights, it wouldn’t fall into anarchy.
The Bill of Rights limits the powers of the Federal government of the United States, protecting the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors on United States territory. It protects the freedoms of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom of assembly; the freedom to petition; and prohibits unreasonable search and seizure; cruel and unusual punishment; and compelled self-incrimination. It also prohibits Congress from making any law respecting establishment of religion and prohibits it from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. In Federal criminal cases, it requires indictment by grand jury for any capital or “infamous crime,” guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
In addition, the Bill of Rights states that “the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,” and reserves all powers not granted to the federal government to the citizenry or States. Most of these restrictions were later applied to the states by a series of decisions applying the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868, after the American Civil War and gave former slaves the same rights as all citizens.
As youth participation has steadily declined in once-popular heritage outdoor activities such as hunting and trapping, New York has steadfastly stayed with its minimum hunting age of 16 to hunt big game ( age 12 to hunt small game), now being the last state in the nation to lower that minimum age. Proponents of a lower hunting age argue that waiting until youths are at least 16 years old means those that might become interested in hunting or trapping have become too involved in other youth activities and interests. And while some contemporary youths are more interested in organized sports, girls, cars and video/TV, we’ll never really know how many might have taken up hunting or trapping activities had they been exposed to them at an earlier age.
