European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday March 11, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary Ernest b. Furgurson Challenge to emerge when cheering stops by the time Thomas Jefferson was in his 80s, his namesakes were scattered across the new United states. The Young menus parents often wrote to him asking advice for their sons. Jefferson who left behind some 18,000 letters responded seriously. There were a few sentences he offered Over and Over a Wise and a concise enough to be repeated As Long As Young people ask How to be Good americans. A adore god a he wrote. A reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor As yourself and your country More than life we have been celebrating and redefining patriotism every Day since Jefferson a declaration of Independence especially before and after every War. We Sel Dom agree about it this time we a most of us a Are delighted to contrast our National self image after the Short and glorious persian Gulf War with How we Felt after the Only previous War remembered by the majority of our population. Twenty years ago jukeboxes in cinder Block roadhouse across the Sun Belt played and replayed Merle Haggard a proud redneck repertoire of a okie from Muskogee and its like. His ballads Drew the line clearly a when you running Down our country Hoss you re walking on the fighting Side of  a persons reaction to those words was As Quick a test As we had then of where anyone stood on Vietnam on Lyndon Johnson Dick Nixon on the Flag itself. A Flag in a Lapel in those Days was a political statement. Soldiers coming Home from the War were shamed out of wearing their uniforms and their bitterness about that lasts to this Day. They had fought Long. And thousands had died because their country asked and then their country resented what they had done. Americans whose memory ran Back to world War ii longed for the certainty the Unity the simplicity of the 44 months Between Pearl Harbor and a a Day. And now suddenly after a few weeks of modern War we Are up there again. For every . Battle death in this War More than 3,000 of those sad telegrams were sent to american families in world War ii. For every american in service today there were about six then a and there were Only about half As Many of us. Demographically we were All in it then millionaires sons As Well As boys just out of cog Camps Ivy league graduates As Well As grammar school dropouts. It was a truly National Effort a truly world War fought across whole continents and oceans against armies and navies mightier dictators Krueler than anything imagined in today a Middle East. Saying so is not to minimize the brilliance of our strategists or the bravery of our troops in the Gulf War. It is to put this War in perspective and to Marvel that to rejoice in the fact that for this moment Success on such a smaller Field has lifted us together again. This is not even an election year yet there Are flags everywhere a in Kuwait where grateful non americans crowd in front of the camera to Thant .  and flying from millions of porches Here a James j. Kilpat rickers a w5mal scene Herb Quot. A a  tops waving Mennem amp Ai  thbbi6 co serb is War. Refdrt7m6 from me National democratic . In m Home. Soldiers Are returning proud of their uniforms. At Dallas fort Worth Airport the other Day 16 servicemen on their Way Back to their base in Louisiana were surprised by a Cluster of cheering admirers. Passers by stopped to shake their hands and congratulate them. In Tampa fla., a judge ruled that a murder defendant could not Wear his army uniform in the courtroom because it might unfairly prejudice the jury in his favor. In fort Myers fla., the 33rd annual Lions club shrimp festival started with a Parade of Madonna look alikes and shrines in costume saying to the crowd a a we re the Good arabs Mut what capped the festival even outdoing miss dental health and miss key West connection was a 40-foot old glory carried East the cheering throng by Roth cadets. Nymphets in bikinis Are More than a world away from the uniformed women who flew helicopters loaded rockets and even died in the past few months. A no one need Ever doubt again whether american women can do their part in War. Yet those teen agers in their innocence Are just As much a part of what we celebrate on this National High. Simple Good and evil clearly drawn heroes and villains unquestioned Victory and Celebration Are things most americans have never experienced before As a nation. It feels Good but experience says it will not last. Once the troops Are Back and the cheering stops our differing versions of patriotism emerge again. Having a common enemy abroad unites us defeating him plates us of Only we could freeze this moment a but that would mean standing still. If Only we could seize it then and in this renewed spirit of americans greatness make it work at Home As Well As it has in the Battlefield. A of us Are in a sense Jefferson a namesakes. We can subscribe in some Way to his advice a love your neighbor As yourself and your country More than  one of the most affecting photographs put of this War was of a . Medic taking tender re of a wounded iraqi Soldier. Our president recalled last week the film of iraqis emerging from their Bunker hands up fearing death a and the american Soldier who told their a a it Sok. You re All right now. You re All right  the president followed with just the right words a that scene says a lot about americans a lot about who we arc americans Are a caring people. We Are a Good people a generous people. Let us always be caring and Good and generous in All we  we want to believe that about ourselves. If asked we would say yes our caring applies to our own countrymen As Well As Defeated enemies. We might agree that Jefferson surging love of neighbor and love of country in the same sentence meant something a perhaps indeed that they mean the same thing. If from our current High we looked inward and determined to make that so this War would have accomplished much More than any general could plot on a map. But what a memorable moment will be wasted if six months from now. The homecomings Are Over the flags Are folded and somebody looks Back and wonders. A is that All there is a. C Trio Baltimore Sun court dodged Bullet in machine gun Case the . Supreme court looked up the other Day saw a gun control Case coming and ducked. The most immediate consequence is that . Farmer or. Of Smyrna ga., cannot keep  machine gun. Now this is not a consequence that is Likely to break Many hearts but the con-., Stith tonal questions that gave Rise to Farmer is. Higgins have abiding interest. It would be useful to have a definitive statement from the High court on exactly what the second amendment Means. This Case offered an excellent Opportunity but in accordance with its policy of pusillanimous prudence the court refused to hear  circumstances May be quickly stated. In 1986 Congress amended the gun control act of 1968. One change made it unlawful for anyone to possess a machine gun without the consent of the Bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms. Fanner applied for permission to own and Register a machine gun. Stephene Higgins director of the Bureau turned him Down Farmer then brought suit in . District court where he won his Case. The government appealed to the 11th circuit where he lost it. A few weeks ago the supreme court declined to review the matter so the decision of the 11th circuit stands. Farmer is free to collect Stamps antique cars matchbooks or old masters but not machine guns. Into every life some rain must fall. The second amendment is a Marvel of Aris Guity. It says a a Well regulated militia being necessary to the Security of a free state the right of the people to keep and Bear arms shall not be  the supreme court has noticed the second amendment Only nine times in 200 years. Eight of the nine cases Are of Little interest. Four of them decided late in the 19th Century held that the amendment restricts Congress but not the states. Four others of More recent Vintage upheld a Federal Law prohibiting felons from owning guns the one remaining Case dates from 1938, when Jack Miller and Frank Layton were convicted of violating the National firearms act of 1934. They were charged with transporting a sawed off double barrelled Shotgun from Clare More okla., to Siloam Springs Ark. In an opinion by Justice James Mcreynolds the court looked at sawed off shotguns and looked at the concept of a Well regulated militia and held that the one had nothing to do with the other a in the absence of any evidence tending to show that Possession or use of a Shotgun having a barrel of less than 18 inches in length at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a Well regulated militia we cannot say that the second amendment guarantees the right to keep and Bear such an instrument.�?�. Which brings us Back to . Farmer jr., the gun collector who wanted to keep if not to Bear his very own machine gun. It would appear indisputable that machine guns Are indeed relevant to a a Well regulated  our armed forces were using them against Iraq. A persuasive argument May be made that such weapons Are the Lineal descendants of colonial arms. In the 18th Century new York required every Man Between the arts of 16 and 45 to provide himself at his own expense with a Musket or Forelock and 24 cartridges. Massachusetts had a similar Law. By an act of 1785, All free males in Virginia had to own a a Good clean Musket carrying an ounce Ball and 3 feet 8 inches Long in the barrel.�?�. A Man could be sent to jail if he did no to keep and Bear arms. Well those Days May be gone forever but the second amendment lingers on. In terms of today s efforts at gun control what does the amendment mean no one really knows and the High court won a say. Or Universal