Dangerous Subways
and Dangerous Judges

Don’t expect people with narrow experience to have deep insights into the human condition. Recent news described how violent the New York City subways really are. There were four stabbings on the subway in one 18-hour period last week. A few days later, a 57-year-old woman was brutally attacked as well. In her case, she was repeatedly kicked from behind as she walked down the subway stairs. When she refused to fall on her face, her attacker repeatedly hit her in the head with a hammer until she lost consciousness and could not defend herself. Then she was robbed. This brought to mind the recent discussions in front of the US Supreme court. We can’t ask experts to solve our daily problems when reality is just a theory to them.

The case before the Supreme Court hinged on New York state law. New York requires a criminal background check before you can buy a handgun. All handgun owners in New York are now law-abiding citizens, at least in theory. New York also demands an additional permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. The problem before the court was that the state wouldn’t issue those permits to ordinary citizens who go ordinary places. In fact, those carry permits were political plumbs handed out to well-connected elites.

During the court discussion, US Supreme court justice Elena Kagan acted shocked that people might want to legally carry concealed firearms on the New York City subway or in Times Square. .....