The U.S. Supreme Court released some major decisions recently.  The one that got the most attention was the overturning of Roe v. Wade.  As I have written previously, the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade does not make abortion illegal.  It does not mean that the Supreme Court is legislating from the bench.  That is what the original Roe decision did.

The overturning of Roe simply returns the issue of abortion to the states.  Some states will make abortion illegal, and some won’t.  In most cases, it will be somewhere in between where there are nuances.

This was the proper constitutional decision, as abortion does not fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government.  In fact, most crimes and most issues do not fall under federal law, or at least aren’t supposed to according to the Constitution.  If it isn’t delegated to Congress under Article 1, Section 8, then it is left to individuals or states to decide, just like it says in the 10^th Amendment.

The Supreme Court also released a decision overturning a New York law that restricted carrying concealed firearms in public.

So in these two cases, there were two very different issues.  One dealt with guns, and the other dealt with abortion.  Yet, they are somewhat contradictory decisions, and I don’t think many people are going to point them out.

The case of abortion and overturning Roe v. Wade is decentralizing government.  It is removing the federal government from the issue almost entirely.

The case of a New York gun law is centralizing government.  The federal government is getting involved in the gun issue that was previously just an issue for New Yorkers or those visiting the state.

Most people are either in favor of both decisions (Republicans/ conservatives) or against both decisions (Democrats).  And those who are in favor of one and against the other are mostly just judging the decisions based on their opinion of the issues.

In other words, those who favor gun rights are happy that the Supreme Court struck down the New York law.  Those who favor more gun control are mad at the Supreme Court decision.  The same goes with abortion and the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

But I would like to take a broader view of these issues and the possibility of long run success for liberty.

I am in favor of gun rights.  I don’t like the New York law.  But I also don’t like the gun laws in Canada, and I don’t think the U.S. Supreme Court should be ruling on what the Canadian government does.

I understand that conservatives (and many libertarians as well) will argue that we have a 2^nd Amendment that guarantees the right to bear arms.

I don’t think this is exactly correct.  It is supposed to explicitly prohibit the federal government from interfering with the right to bear arms.  It is a redundancy because there is no power given to Congress in the first place to interfere with the right to bear arms.

Then we go into the incorporation doctrine and interpreting the 14^th Amendment.  Some will claim that this does give individuals a federal right to bear arms.  Personally, I think this is a major stretch of an interpretation, and it does us far more harm than good in the cause of liberty.

I think we have to stop using federal power when it is convenient.  We have to stop cheering on centralization, even when it is seemingly good for liberty in the short run.

The only way to win the war is to concede certain battles that allow states like New York and California to have bad policies.  That is the only way to justify having them leave us alone.

If we are going to have greater liberty, we need more decentralization.  Some states will make bad policies.  Some cities and towns will make bad policies.  But bad policies are easier to change at a state or local level as compared to the federal level.  And it allows choices for people.  If gun rights is your number one issue, I’m going to assume that you left New York a long time ago.

The dissenting votes on the Supreme Court did not dissent for the reasons I am laying out here.  They just want strict gun control, so they dissented and voted to uphold the New York law.

I would probably agree with much of the reasoning from the majority of the Supreme Court justices who struck down the law.  But at the heart of the matter, I don’t think the U.S. Supreme Court should have decided it.  It should have been left at the state level.  It should not be a federal issue.

Until we get more people on board with this attitude, I think it will be tough to make positive and permanent changes in the direction of liberty.  We need more decentralization.  We didn’t get it with the New York gun law, even though it was a bad law.  We did get decentralization with the overturning of Roe, as the issue will now reside at the state level.