I have known Jim Albert for many years, both as a magistrate and as Westmoreland County sheriff, and I’ve always liked him. However, his recent letter to the editor (“Second Amendment is absolute,” April 3, TribLIVE) declaring I was wrong in my letter stating the Second Amendment is not absolute (“Commissioners misguided on gun-rights resolution,” March 21, TribLIVE) suggests he has never read Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion in the Heller case, which held for the first time that the Second Amendment confers rights on the individual.
Scalia’s textualist approach was nonsense, virtually incomprehensible, but it became the law. Though the holding was silly, he nonetheless was very careful to point out that the Second Amendment is, indeed, not absolute, and even suggested that assault weapons can be lawfully banned. Perhaps Albert might want to consult with his solicitor before opining on the law.
I appeared before him as magistrate many times during my career as an attorney. We did not always agree, to be sure, but I always thought he strove to do the right thing. Alas, this is not the first time he’d be wrong. It is also not the last time that I’d be right.
David Millstein
Naples, Fla.
The writer is a former Westmoreland County resident and attorney for more than 50 years.