Showing posts with label 2nd Amendment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2nd Amendment. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 6, 2021

The Case for the Second Amendment

 

This is the 2nd Amendment as given to us by the Founding Fathers...

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 infringed.

 

Now, let's look at that. Is the "well regulated militia" a state national guard or is "State" meant to represent the U.S. and "militia" the military? This makes a big difference in the interpretation of this amendment. And, the national guard or military "being necessary to the security" of either sounds like we are talking about a group rather than an individual. Of course, all of the discussions and negotiations of the 2nd Amendment were taking place before its passing, December 15,1791.

But then we have, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms," which could be plural, referring to a group of people. What I am getting at here is that the 2nd, as it is written, is far from clear if it represents groups or whether it could include individual gun ownership. Finally, "shall not be infringed" is relatively simple and means the amendment cannot be violated. But it is still to be established whether this 200+ year old measure asserts singleness or government control.

It must be acknowledged that a law that is 200 years old, plus written at a time when there was no established law enforcement--resulting in potential instances of self protection--could need a more modern interpretation. Additionally, the United States over the last few years has shifted to a gun culture designed and implemented by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre that produces maximum profits for gun manufacturers and lines LaPierre's pockets with millions of dollars?

You should understand that all of the above incidents occur in an environment here in


this country that is rocked daily by gun violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been almost 22,000 gun violence deaths in 2021, including 315 mass shootings. There are 390 million guns on America's streets with the current U.S. population 329 million. America comes in second in firearm-related gun deaths around the world with 37,200 annually; Brazil is number 1. 

But is there a case for the 2nd Amendment? I will leave you with the above facts and figures plus a number of sites, below, relating to guns starting with the mass killings in Colorado and Georgia, in March of this year, and ideas on how to stop all this mayhem...


Opinion | 6 Bold Ideas for Gun Reform That Could Actually Happen

 



Explainer: More guns than people: Why tighter U.S. firearms laws are unlikely







After repeated ATF warnings, gun dealers can count on the agency to back off; sometimes firearms flow to criminals





213 Mass Shootings Later, What Has Biden Done on Guns?




At least 22 people shot, 2 fatally, after assailants get out of an SUV and fire assault rifles at a club, police say




San Jose mayor proposes gun owners carry insurance, pay annual fee in wake of rail yard shooting




Gun deaths surge in Iowa ahead of loosened handgun restrictions



Yes, the 2nd Amendment had its place in its day, the days of 1791, but this is 2021, and that need is no longer viable. Gun violence has consumed America due to a gun culture fostered by the National Rifle Assn. and supported by a large array of gun nuts. The time has come for change.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Guns don't kill, people do outdated and boring

August 14, 2019: Commentary on gun violence

393 million guns for 326 million people - Why guns kill  


Is this what gun rights people mean?
Makes as much sense, duh!
The time has come to look at America's gun culture and realize that we are a country of gun violence simply because of our gun laws which stem primarily from the Republican Party with the regular incitement of Wayne LaPierre and his National Rifle Assn. (NRA). We are a nation of gun nuts, defined as follows...
You are a gun nut if... 
You think assault weapons should be legal...
You object to universal background checks...
If you favor weapons straw purchases...
You oppose red flag gun laws
You think you should be able to carry your gun anywhere...
You are afraid of a national gun registry
There's more, but this is the essence of the gun rights movement that has been instilled in the minds of gun owners since Wayne LaPierre took over the NRA. The years outdated 2nd Amendment is sacrosanct, and no one must question its meaning or validity, according to these gun nuts. But 70% to 80% of NRA members want universal background checks, plus other changes, meaning the gun nuts are in the minority. They're just the ones with the loudest mouths.

NRA in turmoil...


Elie Mystal from The Nation says, "It’s Time to Repeal—and Replace—the Second Amendment," an article that no doubt makes LaPierre shudder to think anyone would attack his fabricated piece of outdated ideology. She says...
"The meaning of the amendment has been so badly mangled that our only choice is to start over with something that allows for real gun control."
Yes, and the mangled interpretations of the 2nd Amendment clearly come from the propaganda spewing of the National Rifle Assn. and its minions promoting gun violence. But lately NRA board members are dropping like flies with Julie Golob, a professional sport shooter and a strong public advocate for gun rights resigning before her tenure was up. The fourth member in the past two weeks to desert the sinking ship.

Three other board members, Esther Schneider of Texas, Sean Maloney of Ohio and Timothy Knight of Tennessee left when...
"they were stripped of their committee assignments after they asked questions about allegations of lavish spending by NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and other financial excesses."
Former SCOTUS Justice Stevens wanted to repeal 2nd Amendment...



Newsweek reports that the NRA's tax-exempt status is in danger as donors revolt with the most recent development the New York State Department of Financial Services investigation of "the NRA's now-defunct Carry Guard insurance product, which purported to insure gun owners when they kill another individual." The inquiry reportedly involves...
"kickbacks that the NRA is alleged to have received for facilitating the purchase of insurance policies. The NRA is not licensed to provide or market insurance policies and their involvement in the development of insurance services could run afoul of state law."
The NRA is in a shambles and most of it can likely be traced back to head gun nut, Wayne LaPierre. In a former post, I blogged former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens made a push recently to repeal the 2nd Amendment, following the Parkland, Florida shooting massacre. Another recent post, Big time NRA donor, David Dell’Aquila, wants Wayne LaPierre dumped, calling him radioactive. Just now realizing Wayne LaPierre has been threatening for years.

Pathetic!

Friday, July 19, 2019

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: Repeal 2nd Amendment


July 19, 2029: TODAY'S NEWS BYTES  


Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens: Repeal 2nd Amendment

Although deceased former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens made it his job to keep a check on American presidents (God, we need him now), he also made a push recently to repeal the 2nd Amendment, Following the Parkland, Florida shooting massacre...
"In 2008, the Supreme Court overturned Chief Justice Burger’s and others’ long-settled understanding of the Second Amendment’s limited reach by ruling, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that there was an individual right to bear arms. I was among the four dissenters. That decision — which I remain convinced was wrong and certainly was debatable — has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power. Overturning that decision via a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Second Amendment would be simple and would do more to weaken the N.R.A.’s ability to stymie legislative debate and block constructive gun control legislation than any other available option."
Of course, no one listened to him then but with the current demise of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), perhaps the gun cowards in Congress, and there are many, will begin to take note.

Read more...

Others think it is time to repeal 2nd Amendment

"Why not try to amend the Second Amendment? "That's from Washington Post columnist, Henry Olsen,  I like the term "try" and completely understand its use in connection with a U. S. Congress loaded with gun nuts scared to death of Wayne LaPierre's NRA. Olsen apparently feels that the complete takeaway of all guns is a mistake, but also bemoans the possibility of Trump adding another conservative justice to SCOTUS, which would take at least ten years to undo.

The writer proposes the following...
"A revised Second Amendment could spell out the relationship between public safety and private rights in more detail. It could give clear safeguards for people with no history of legal trouble or mental instability to continue to own guns while giving more authority to the government to guarantee that only people unlikely to misuse guns would have them."
I might even be able to live with that as long as the right to carry weapons outside the home is banned, along with all assault rifles. At the same time, we would close the gun show loophole, add mandatory background checks and forbid straw purchases. Now that is definitely a neat package.

Read more...

Gun control saves childrens' lives

Stricter gun laws associated with lower death rates in children. Here's a fact from the new study...
"In states where laws requiring universal background checks for gun purchases had been in effect for at least five years, rates of fatal shootings involving young victims were 35% lower than in states without background checks."
 “Approximately seven U.S. children die from firearm-related injuries every day,” said Dr. Monika Goyal, lead author of the study and a researcher at Children’s National Health System and George Washington University in Washington, D.C. About 62% of the 21,241 deaths analyzed were assault-related, and nearly 69% occurred among 18- to 21-year-olds. About 87% of the deaths were in males.

The study warns, parents should think twice about bring guns into the home, and always inquire whether there are guns in the homes where their children go to play. “Take the risk that you may offend someone, rather than putting your child at risk of fatal or irreversible injury,” said Dr. Judy Schaechter, coauthor of an editorial accompanying the study and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Read more...


Tuesday, August 14, 2018

NRA "mission" a blatant oxymoron


The mission of the National Rifle Assn. (NRA), whether they want to admit it or not, most likely not, is to put as many guns on the street as possible. They can deny this all they want, but over the years it has been clearly established that Wayne LaPierre's NRA works for gun manufacturer's not its 5 million or so membership. These poor slobs eat up LaPierre's rhetoric, passing it around like facts, which most aren't, while gun makers drool over profits. Their stated mission is to protect the 2nd Amendment and the rights of gun nuts. Simply analyzed, it is a glaring oxymoron.

They just filed a claim in New York against Governor Andrew Cuomo that his "blacklisting" is "jeopardizing" their mission. No doubt they did not define their mission as "to put as many guns on the street as possible," which would seem to me to invalidate the charges to begin with. If they chose that flowery crap about the 2nd Amendment, although this may be true, it is not the real meaning about their existence. It is to sell more and more guns and LaPierre and the NRA will never be satisfied until every house in America is armed from a handgun to an AR-15. God help us!

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Don't like country music and I detest the NRA



I grew up in the South, actually Tennessee, where the Grand Ole Opry originated in 1925, and still is. Am old enough to have been to the original Ryman Auditorium, and my wife and I recently attended the Opry at the new place, compliments of a cruise we were taking. Still don't like country music but do appreciate good talent, and there is still tons of it in Nashville. Along with a love for guns and the 2nd Amendment. My gut tells me that, because of the C&W emphasis on nostalgia, its religious aspects along with the appeal to blue collar rednecks, the gun thing becomes a natural.

My wife (she's not a redneck) loves C&W and we listen to it a lot. But recently singer Eric Church was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine after the Las Vegas gun massacre saying...
“I’m a Second Amendment guy. That’s in the Constitution, it’s people’s right, and I don’t believe it’s negotiable. But nobody should have that many guns and that much ammunition and we don’t know about it.”
I disagree completely about the 2nd Amendment, but the rest he says is right on. He added that he blamed the lobbyists like the National Rifle Assn. for placing a "roadblock" with way too much power over elected officials. He should put all this into a country song with the title, "Let me Count the Ways Guns Kill our Children." And offer to sing it for NRA head Wayne LaPierre at the next Nat'l Rifle Assn. convention. Eric Church is being boycotted for what he said because the NRA has become such a big part of this industry lately. Just another reason for my aversion to C&W.

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Country doesn't need what NRA wants



The National Rifle Assn. is supporting Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court Justice, which raises flags and rings bells everywhere to indicate this is bad for the country. Senate swing votes include Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska., Doug Jones, D-Ala., Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D. The NRA's top propagandist Chris Cox says, “It’s critical that all pro-Second Amendment voters urge their senators to confirm Judge Kavanaugh.” The nation's top child killing machine group will never give up on this 2nd Amendment shit until we repeal it.

The gun control folks consider Kavanaugh's position on the 2nd Amendment "extreme" and of course he is in bed with the gun lobby. With the Senate Judiciary Committee expected to begin confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh next month, gun control activists need to get their act going to fight the confirmation. Dems are demanding Kavanaugh records on his tenure with GWB White House, claiming they are critical to public's approval of the justice. The left is hopeful for a delay but with Mitch Mitchell heading up the Senate, any underhanded move is possible from this political swindler.


Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Repeal the 2nd Amendment NOW!



Twenty-two people were injured by gun violence in a shooting at a 24-hour art festival in Trenton, New Jersey, where two men are believed to be the shooters, with one of them killed by police. While there were no deaths, four people are in critical shape, one a teenager. It was an all-nighter that started at 3 PM featuring 1,500 pieces of art. There was an attempted carjacking near the festival but law enforcement hasn't been able to tie it in with the shooting. In other words, at this point there is minimum information available, but we do know it was another senseless shooting.

First, we need to know what the weapons were, how the assailants got them, and why they picked this particular event. Not that it will explain that with guns everywhere in the U.S., the fact of where the guns came from may no longer be relevant. In just 2018, there have been 26,570 incidents of gun violence, which have ended in 6,568 deaths, and with 12,359 more injuries. There have been 1,547 children killed or injured. And there have been 130 mass shootings like the one in Trenton. But the imbeciles that populate the U.S. Congress, because of the NRA, are scared to make a move.

Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Assn. head gun nut, has been spewing his 2nd Amendment crap for years, and apparently it has registered with congressional members, the general public, and most certainly with his gun nut membership. It is time to repeal the 2nd Amendment and start over. Gun permits should be radically limited and right to carry only for law enforcement or those with an absolute need. Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said in March of this year in a NY Times op-ed piece, "Repeal the 2nd Amendment." It, of course, got nowhere.

Stevens says this nonsense of the people arming themselves against a tyrannical government is, "a relic of the 18th century." Basically, that puts the 2nd Amendment and everything that comes from LaPierre and his NRA in the same category. In a reaction to the demonstrations of schoolchildren after the Parkland, Fla. gun massacre, "They reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society." This should include...
"legislation prohibiting civilian ownership of semiautomatic weapons, increasing the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 years old, and establishing more comprehensive background checks on all purchasers of firearms. But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment."
And Judge Stevens explores history...
"In 1939 the Supreme Court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a 'well regulated militia.'” 
The militia thing is there but at least the Supreme Court had the common sense, and, apparently, the legal foundation to say a sawed-off shotgun wasn't included in the intent of the Founding Fathers to represent protection. In keeping with that Stevens is implying that assault rifles are not a necessary weapon for protection, thus, they should be outlawed. You may not know this but in the "long-settled understanding of the Second Amendment’s limited reach by ruling, in District of Columbia v. Heller, that there was an individual right to bear arms. Stevens was one of four dissenters.

Many of you may also know about Arizona's loose gun laws and an unusually high rate of gun violence. It is in the top 16 in the country. Here are the stats...
  • Firearm deaths per 100,000 people: 15.2 per 100,000
  • Total firearm deaths 2016: 1094 (suicides: 755, homicides: 303)
  • Violent crime rate: 470.1 per 100,000 (12th highest)
  • Permit required to carry handgun: No (Citizens allowed to carry a concealed handgun with or without a permit.)
  • Poverty rate: 16.4% (8th highest)
The reason I bring this up is an op-ed in the local Phoenix paper titled, "Control lacking in the Second Amendment." The writer was more concerned over the way the paper, conservative, had changed his title in the piece published earlier, which does not apply here. What is important is what Leon Gildin said at the end of his recent article. He exclaimed, "Control is what is lacking and the reason therefore is, with all due respect, the Second Amendment, as it was written, is not relevant to the issue of gun ownership or gun control in today's world."

Like former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said, the 2nd Amendment is a relic of the 18th century.

                    


                  

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Texas mentality always thinking about guns



Typical Republican campaign advertising 

The centerpiece of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection bid was the giveaway of a “Texas-made shotgun“ in a campaign contest. That's the way gun nut political candidates impress their gun nut supporters. After a gunman used a shotgun in a Friday rampage that left 10 dead in a high school near Houston, he changed the contest gift to $250. But in February Kansas candidate Tyler Tannahill stuck to his "campaign giveaway of an AR-15 rifle despite criticism in light of the prior Wednesday's mass school shooting in Florida." The weapon used in the Florida massacre was an AR-15.

It is a given that these gun huggers value their weapons more than the lives of their family, friends and neighbors, even their children. but this Kansas imbecile, a Republican, of course, also cares more about winning his election than the values listed above. Even John Fredericks, a conservative talk radio host, criticized Tannahill's giveaway, saying he felt it was "in really bad taste." Folks, we are talking about giving away the same kind of assault weapon that has been used in most of the recent school shootings, a good indication of how guns can get in the wrong hands in this country.

This kind of lunacy exists all over this nation. A Virginia politician gave away an AR-15 in 2016, Georgia candidate for Governor gave away a bump stock in 2017, and as far back as 2014, the hottest conservative campaign gimmick was free guns. It is an obsession for something that is designed for only one purpose, to kill. Yes, some guns are used for hunting, but I wonder about the ratio between the quarry of hunters and the fact that guns have killed 5,574 people already in 2018, with a total of 22,587 incidences of gun violence.

It is obvious that America has a gun culture built around the protection of the 2nd Amendment ratified in late 1791, over two hundred years ago. It is currently a ruse in the U.S. Constitution put there by men thinking as people in a new country, at the time, who believed governments used soldiers to oppress the people. In modern day, the military is known as the national force that protects Americans. Only a mentally deprived gun nut would think today that the 2nd Amendment still gives him or her the right to do anything they like with a gun. Not only nonsense, just plain stupidity.




Tuesday, May 15, 2018

New Jersey has a grip on gun control


The 2nd Amendment gun nuts are all in a dither over the release by New Jersey of federal information on "near-real-time firearms trafficking data.They refer to the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which forbids using the feds budget to do gun violence research. The NRA and its brainless membership have been dreading this for some time, knowing full well that, with the brutal facts out in the open, the American public might come to their senses and take up opposition to gun violence. What is so pitiful is it has taken so many gun deaths, including hundreds of children, to get here.


"Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled the data Tuesday as part of a campaign promise to strengthen New Jersey's already-tight gun laws." One of the facts" "77 percent of guns used in crimes in New Jersey come from out of state." Which would indicate they are bringing in guns from states with the loosest gun laws like Arizona, Kansas, Mississippi, or closer Vermont. New Jersey has promised to release this information from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on a monthly basis. More states should do this in line with enacting new gun control laws.

Monday, March 5, 2018

Corporate America tells NRA to screw itself


It's happening all over the country right now with some of the largest industry giants deciding to sever all ties with the National Rifle Assn. after the Parkland, Fla., recent gun massacre. The NRA's response, a "shameful display of political and civic cowardice." It is beyond me how this organization can criticize anyone or any company with their record of killing so many innocent children and adults with the obstacles they have created for years that have prevented any reasonable gun control legislation. It all started with head gun nut Wayne LaPierre's reverence for the 2nd Amendment.

Most Americans believe the 2nd's protection of gun ownership is unquestionable, set in stone. It isn't. In fact, LaPierre's interpretation of the Amendment is far from what constitutional scholars say, even what the Supreme Court has ruled. And now the 2nd Amendment may have its day in court with the outcome a severe adjustment, or even repeal. We can only hope. Here are the companies that have dumped the NRA so far:


Alamo Rent a Car                                          
Allied Van Lines
Avis Budget Group
Best Western
Budget
Chubb Insurance
Delta Air Lines
Dick's Sporting Goods
Enterprise Rent-a-Car
First National Bank of Omaha
Hertz
MetLife
National Car Rental
North American Van Lines
Paramount Rx
SimpliSafe
Starkey Hearing Technologies
Symantec
TrueCar
United Airline
Recently Dicks Sporting Goods, LL Bean, Kroger's Meyers stores and Walmart took away the right to buy a gun under age 21. REI is refusing to sell to any company that supports the NRA. Recently Smith & Wesson reported a slump in gun sales starting in 2017 after years of steady increases. They're all running scared and the NRA leads the pack. Folks, guns have finally become the pariah they should have years ago. The question is whether or not Congress gets the message and turns away from the NRA and toward the 65% of Americans who favor more stringent gun laws.

Want to see how your Congress person has voted on gun bills? Go here.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

How the hell do we keep explaining these gun deaths


There is no way. But at the same time, we still do nothing about it. In January of 2017, Trump made a series of stupid comments on guns and the 2nd Amendment, sounding almost as dumb as the NRA's Wayne LaPierre, about the sanctity of the 2nd, and bullshit like, "...the right to keep and bear arms is a right that pre-exists both the government and the Constitution, noting that government didn’t create the right, nor can it take it away." If he is implying that guns were around before the U.S. was a country, and before there was a Constitution, of course they were. They were used in a war.

But it was the Founding Fathers that felt the need for a 2nd Amendment at a time they still required protection from the British and there was basically no real police force to enforce the laws. People needed to protect themselves and having weapons in the home made sense. It doesn't now. We have a federal armed forces and law enforcement on the local, county and state levels. Sure, people are killed with guns on the street but that is because there are so many guns on the street. Get rid of all the guns and you get rid of the problem. But we know that will never happen. Is there an answer?

Here's an excerpt from a post I did about what the Founding Fathers really meant...
"It occurred to me recently that enough hasn't been said recently about the intentions of the Founding Fathers in the Constitution for the rights and restrictions of gun owners. With individual and mass killings by guns a regular daily occurrence, and the fact that even in light of the horrific number of deaths, including many children, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) headed up by Wayne LaPierre, still maintain that the right to have a gun is more important than human life. LaPierre bases that right on the 2nd Amendment, given to us by the Founding Fathers. He claims it is inviolable."
And more on the same subject...
"Here's an incident of the typical thinking of a gun nut: In a tirade against CNN’s Piers Morgan, Alex Jones argued, 'The Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting. It’s there to protect us from tyrannical government.' Like this government could ever come together long enough to start anything, much less tyranny. It's a laughable argument and there's much in history to disprove the gun nuts. Truth-Out.org also reports first-hand documents from 1789 detail the First Congress' debate on arms and militia detail a constant theme: "the 2nd Amendment was created to protect the American government."
In one of the most egregious acts in the field of journalism, Jan Larson McLaughlin, the Editor of the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune in Ohio, was fired for insubordination by the Publisher, Karmen Concannon. The reason, McLaughlin wrote an article about the NRA that was unfavorable but true, re. James Evans, a geology professor, for his email to State Rep. Tim Brown in which he called the NRA a “terrorist organization." McLaughlin found no problem with that and neither do I. But she was fired and the Publisher refused any comments on the matter. Read the editorial!

I am writing this post as a reaction to the most recent murder of, Karen Smith, a school teacher from San Bernardino, California, by her husband, also killing an eight-year-old student standing behind her. He too was was struck by gunfire. Apparently the eight-year-old that was killed, plus the other student who was shot, were simply innocent bystanders. The NRA and its gun nuts will now scream for arming every teacher in the country; guns are already legal with students in many classrooms nationwide. I can just see it now; OK Corral goes to school.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Drop the College and drop the 2nd Amendment



Never before have I seen a case made so eloquent for ridding ourselves of a "relic" bestowed on us by the Founding Fathers. We have a few but this is one that happens to be in the spotlight now as the bungled finish of the 2016 Presidential election becomes evident. For the second time in 16 years, the out-of-date Electoral College has given the White House to the person with the least popular vote. And this year it is significant: Hillary Clinton has scored over 2.2 million more votes than Donald Trump. John Nichols does an excellent job of making his case in The Nation...
"The Electoral College is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century."
Now I'll get to the Electoral College in a later post but this one is devoted to just how much Nichols' article applies to the 2nd Amendment. Read it again, but this time substitutiing the 2nd Amendment for Electoral College...
The 2nd Amendment is an abomination: an antidemocratic relic of the unconscionable compromises made during America’s founding that should never have been allowed to linger into the 21st century.
I hear the gun nuts coming out from under their rocks now but even the "antidemocratic" portion, above, can be defended. It is against my democracy to have to be in a public place with some guy or gal who feels it necessary to walk around with an assault rifle on their shoulder, a weapon that belongs only in law enforcement and the military. Yes, they have a right, but that should extend no further than their front door. But even the right to defend yourself in the home shouldn't include assault rifles. Individual rights go just so far and can be limited, as agreed by the Supreme Court.

The fight over guns will go on until enough of the "right" people are killed, and by that I mean those most verbal over gun rights that preclude any responsible  control at all. And by the lunacy of some of their rhetoric, I wonder if even then.

More on the Electoral College later.

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Republicans want a Constitutional Convention



Why wouldn't they? They control the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Governor's offices and legislatures in many of the states. Perfect opportunity to turn this country so far right the average citizen will be on the streets begging. But wait, there's some actual substance to their plans. Jeb Bush--you remember him--wants to pass term limits and a balanced budget amendment. So far, so good.

A liberal, Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig, got in the act saying now's a great time to undo the Citizens United ruling. Some other liberals, mostly gun control advocates like me, would like to see the 2nd Amendment re-interpreted to fit the 21st century, putting Wayne LaPierre and his NRA gun nuts in their place. There hasn't been a Constitutional Convention since the original one that gave us the Constitution we have. But the environment has never been so right for one party, and the rules for calling a convention are in the Constitution.

Two-thirds of the states have to petition Congress for the meeting, required by Article V of the Constitution. Beyond this stipulation, instructions are vague, which could make it near impossible to come to an agreement. What bothers me most is that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) endorses the move and I am against anything they are in favor of. ALEC has only one purpose in mind, the promotion of corporations and industry. The consumer be damned.

Some lawmakers and constitutional experts aren't sure about dickering with the Constitution, especially in the environment of a convention. With the loose guidelines for conducting this sort of thing, we could end up with a disaster. But don't we sorta have that anyway now?

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Trump honed incendiary style from National Rifle Assn.



For years the National Rifle Assn., led by Wayne LaPierre, has railed against a government that suppresses its people and denies them their constitutional rights. Of course, the opposition has always been designed to protect their precious 2nd Amendment, a part of the Constitution that should have been done away with or at least modified significantly. Something that obviously could never happen under a Donald Trump presidency or Republican controlled Congress.

A recent post on this subject pointed out how the emphasis on state elections will probably increase in the next four years, while pointing out the high amount of gun violence the U.S. suffers annually from too many guns. At one point Trump said, I support the ban on assault weapons and I also support a slightly longer waiting period to purchase a gun.” The Trace article also said that during the election, "...Trump adopted an incendiary message that matched the NRA’s own."

When the NRA heard Trump's repeated rhetoric that the 2nd Amendment was sacred, something that must be protected at all costs, the decision was made to pump $30- million into ads that supported Trump. It started with 5-million NRA members, then picked a rural population the NRA has been appealing to for years, all ramrodded by the huge ad campaign both for Donald Trump and against Hillary Clinton. It worked. Trump was elected but can the NRA really depend on his fickle nature?




The fact is that almost all of the Republican hierarchy shunned Trump in the early stages, as well as further into the campaign. Special interest groups ignored him; do the Koch brothers come to mind? Even the conservative press was caught off guard by his zany antics. Sociologist Scott Melzer, author of the 2012 book "Gun Crusaders: The NRA’s Culture War," told The Trace:
"The gun group and its candidate speak to 'this white rural conservative population that feels left behind by economic shifts and cultural shifts. These changes pose a threat to their identity.'”
Wayne Lapierre wasn't able to beat Barack Obama but he was successful defeating Hillary Clinton. I continue to wonder how long a gullible American public will buy the NRA's bullshit. Meanwhile, it accepts 12,000+ gun deaths a
year, over 3,000 of them children. Thank you America.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Concealed carry permit holders responsible for over 800 gun deaths since 2007




According to the Violence Policy Center, "...Concealed handgun permit holders are responsible for at least 849 deaths not involving self defense since 2007, including 29 mass shootings that killed 139 people. That's close to 100 gun deaths per year from those cowboys who think they are protecting the public. It's time to put on the brakes and start limiting concealed carry to only those with a special need. I have talked to several of these people and they consider this a right given under the 2nd Amendment and it is not.

The VPC exclaims, “Our research makes it clear that allowing more guns in public places is making us less safe.” The organization's  Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “It’s also clear that state lawmakers who weaken concealed carry laws increase the risk that even more of these tragic, fatal incidents will occur.” Like Arizona, where the only requirement for a concealed carry permit is that the person must be a warm body. Pathetic.


Monday, December 21, 2015

What the Founding Fathers really meant in the 2nd Amendment



It occurred to me recently that enough hasn't been said recently about the intentions of the Founding Fathers in the Constitution for the rights and restrictions of gun owners. With individual and mass killings by guns a regular daily occurrence, and the fact that even in light of the horrific number of deaths, including many children, the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) headed up by Wayne LaPierre, still maintain that the right to have a gun is more important than human life. LaPierre bases that right on the 2nd Amendment, given to us by the Founding Fathers. He claims it is inviolable.

Here's an incident of the typical thinking of a gun nut: In a tirade against CNN’s Piers Morgan, Alex Jones argued, “The Second Amendment isn’t there for duck hunting. It’s there to protect us from tyrannical government.” Like this government could ever come together long enough to start anything, much less tyranny. It's a laughable argument and there's much in history to disprove the gun nuts. Truth-Out.org also reports first-hand documents from 1789 detail the First Congress' debate on arms and militia detail a constant theme: "the 2nd Amendment was created to protect the American government."

It wasn't meant to give some doofus the right to carry around an assault rifle in public, or even have one in the home. This also applies to handguns when it comes to open or concealed carry permits for nothing more than playing cowboy.

Here'a another point from TO.org,  "As a member of a National Guard militia, the 2nd Amendment is more of a civic duty than a personal right. Again, it was all about defense of the state – not defense against the state."
In fact, during that first gun debate, the state of New Hampshire introduced an amendment that gave the government permission to confiscate guns when citizens “are or have been in Actual Rebellion.” To those early legislators in New Hampshire, the right to bear arms stops as soon as those arms are taken up against our "we the people" government.
Gun nuts like Alex Jones are what have turned the United states into the most gun violent country in all the industrialized nations. His thinking, along with the gun nuts at the NRA, especially Wayne laPierre, is what has caused the recent blood baths that are killing innocent people, especially children.


Monday, April 20, 2015

INSURRECTIONIST TED CRUZ AT ODDS WITH FELLOW REPUBLICANS


Ted Cruz says "that the Second Amendment 'includes a right to revolt against government tyranny.'” This Tea Party crackpot is determined to bring this country to its knees with his radical idealism. Adam Winkler, Second Amendment expert and UCLA law professor, says that those passionate over gun rights might espouse this idea but usually not a presidential candidate. It's one of the many reasons Ted Cruz shouldn't be a presidential candidate. In rebuttal, Lindsey Graham says “I think an informed electorate is probably a better check than, you know, guns in the streets.” At the very least, these people are scary. At worst, old crazy Cruz could just drum up enough halfwits to march on the U.S. Capitol. It's time to send all these fruitcakes to the pasture or farther.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

TED CRUZ 2ND AMENDMENT FUNDAMENTALS STEEPED IN OBSOLETE IDEOLOGY


The 2nd Amendment is a divisive part of the U.S. Constitution that should either be modified drastically or repealed. The National Rifle Assn. is in the last day of its 2015 convention in Nashville, TN, and their 70,000 members are there for just the opposite reason; to preserve its sanctity. At least in their eyes. Ted Cruz is trying to help but, as usual, he put his foot in his mouth again. For years opponents of the ritualistic interpretation of the 2nd Amendment by gun nuts have argued, this is not what those guys meant on that day, December 15, 1791. That was then. This is now. Things have changed. Wake up and enjoy modern times. But Cruz elected to dredge up former Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story who did support the 2nd with the enthusiasm of someone proud of his country at a time when vigilance was needed. But that was sometime between 1811 and 1845, hardly a contemporary view of our needs of today. And therein lies the problem of the gun rights movement. Their view of the 2nd Amendment is antiquated and until that changes the shootings and killings will continue.

Monday, March 23, 2015

DEFINITION OF A GUN NUT


A gun nut is the kind of individual that loves his or her gun(s) over the life of an innocent gun violence victim. They have no room for negotiations, period, only a demand that their gun rights not be violated in any way. A gun nut has a ring in the nose, pulled regularly by the NRA asking for money to fund an organization that is completely self-absorbed.  This person believes the 2nd Amendment is sacrosanct and completely untouchable, that the Founding Fathers had Wayne LaPierre's and the NRA's interpretation of this law in mind when it was passed in 1791. A gun nut swaggers into a Target or Kroger store with arrogance just to show that it can be done, sometimes masking a limited masculinity or femininity. Any conversation on firearms immediately prompts the comment, "Sounds like you're trying to take away my gun." Most likely many gun nuts maintain an arsenal at home alleging for years now the government takeover that is "just around the corner." There is possibly a gun nut on every block and if we could just get rid of these radicals, the solution to gun violence would be so much easier.  

Thursday, October 30, 2014

1st AMENDMENT DISPROVES 2nd AMENDMENT ABSOLUTISM


Cliven Bundy Ranch militia lunatics
Back to Barry Lyga and the barefaced fact that the history of the revisionism of the 1st Amendment proves without a doubt that the 2nd Amendment is not absolutist in its words or meaning. Just reading it alone illustrates how out of date the concept is:

2nd: "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 infringed."

Most of the militias around these days, or patriot movements as they are also called, are those like the wackos in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas, plus the fringes like Cliven Bundy in Nevada. All of them a bunch of crackpots that feed on those who worship the 2nd Amendment. In other words, outdated legislation. So how does the 1st Amendment shed doubt on the 2nd?

1st: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

First of all, there is nothing out of date, which might speak to the fact that the 1st Amendment has seen so many abridgements. Lyga says: "We have freedom of speech, yes, but we have still decided — as a society — that certain kinds of speech are illegal. For example, libel/slander are actionable. Speech, right? But illegal and punishable." In addition there's perjury and you can't lie under oath or  try to download child pornography. If you can amend so many aspects of the 1st, how can the 2nd possibly be a sacred document that cannot be touched?

Are the conservatives on the Supreme Court completely devoid of common sense, or is this just their ploy to cater to the NRA and the rest of the gun lobby? And why hasn't one of the gun advocate groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence taken this premise to court as a matter of precedent?

But then, maybe we should just repeal the 2nd Amendment.

Still more to come.

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