Another Win for the First Amendment
In a working democracy, the people retain rights and the government exercises power. The government is often called upon to assert its power when individual rights clash: my right to speak, even to speak hatefully, vs your right to live a life in the pursuit of happiness; or my right to own a gun vs your right to be safe from undue harm. Then, the government steps in and puts its finger on the scale to pronounce a winner. The balance is certainly hard to strike, but the scale seems out-of-whack in Florida and Texas — regarding both First and Second Amendment rights.
The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit helped to readjust the balance, at least with regard to the First Amendment, when it held unconstitutional the Florida Law that sought to regulate the content of social media platforms. And the Supreme Court added its weight when it upheld an injunction, stopping in its tracks a Texas law that ostensibly tries to do the same thing.
Guns kill; words alone can only injure. The government should use its power to strike the balance in favor of safety and thereby increase government restrictions on guns, and in favor of debate and against government restrictions on words. Yet in both Florida and Texas, the government seems to be intent on abandoning its power to protect their population from the hazards of unregulated gun ownership and overstep…
