by Join Together

About the author: Join Together supports community-based efforts to reduce, prevent, and treat substance abuse and gun violence. Their web site, Join Together Online, provides news and information related to gun violence.

On June 23, 1998, the Boston Globe ran an editorial in which the newspaper evaluated a bill on the control of assault weapons in Massachusetts as a “fair compromise” between forces on both sides of the issue. But in its analysis and documentation, the venerable daily veered onto some shaky constitutional terrain. The Globe stated that while the bill would protect citizens from firearms abuse, it would also “fully protect citizens’ Second Amendment rights to bear arms.”

It’s no surprise if the phrasing bears the ring of familiarity—after all, the constitutional...