DAVID HARDY HAS A COLUMN ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT in the Contra Costa Times, but their lame registration system makes it nearly impossible to read — it forces you to sign up, then dumps you onto the front page, forcing you to reload the link to get there. But here’s a key excerpt:

In law school, we were told to be careful what we ask for, because the fates may give us just that. If the Supreme Court upholds a broad Second Amendment right, tens of millions of gun-owning Americans will be reminded of the high court’s role as protector of their Constitution.

If it goes the other way, those millions will be asking how arms ownership, expressly mentioned in that document, is unprotected while abortion (no where mentioned) is broadly protected.

They will come to believe that the Constitution is merely a paper covering for arbitrary judicial rule. This is not a lesson we want taught in a democracy.

I think that’s right. And here’s some advice for the folks running the Contra Costa Times website, too!

UPDATE: Dave Hardy says you can bypass the registration with this link.