Gun-Control Hypocrisy
- JaxsonRaineposted 12 years ago
0Merry Christmas, Jaxson!
Still another hypothetical constructed for the sole purpose of making a case against reasonable gun restrictions needed to improve public safety. At the same time, the premise fails to mention that we are living in a country where citizens already own enough weapons to arm nearly every man, woman, child, and new born infant.
It should be obvious to you, Jaxson, why “all these people, from TV anchors to movie stars to the POTUS, send their children to schools that have their own private armed staff.” If there was adequate and effective controls of both gun sales and accessibility, then all your theoretical politicians, stars, and media folk, your so called hypocrites, would have less need to surround and protect themselves and their children with guns.
I hope, Jaxson, you have a safe and healthy New Year.
- PrettyPantherposted 12 years ago0
- Will Apseposted 12 years ago0
- JaxsonRaineposted 12 years ago0
Good evening, Jaxson. There are so many facets to this issue. It is impossible to address them all.
The centerpiece of most of your arguments in this thread seems to be liberty. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of quoting many of your statements about the rights protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They include a few assertions in red that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights grant rights to citizens when actually they only enumerate the rights that citizens grant to the government.
Jaxson Raine wrote:
“You have the right to liberty. Some people kill other people. Should we take away your right to liberty to prevent murders?”
I would answer “yes” to this question. The English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) wrote in his Two Treatises on Government (1690) that the protection of life, liberty, and property was the basic objective of government. His thinking found its way into the Declaration of Independence as the now famous phrase identifying “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” as “unalienable Rights” of citizens under a government. As a result, existing US laws in harmony with our Constitution do indeed limit some rights and liberties to prevent murders and to promote public safety. {1} If you disagree, I will gladly post a few examples.
Jaxson Raine wrote:
“Again, we have the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to keep and bear arms. A right of an individual can only be taken away by due process of law.
“You have the right to live in a gun free environment on your own property. You don't have the right to live in a gun-free nation (in the US), because gun rights are protected in this nation.
“You have the right to live in a place without guns, if you own that place. You don't have the right to make the rules at someone else's place, or in public.
“The bill of rights…gives the right to keep (own) and bear(carry) arms(weapons and armor)… There is nothing in the bill of rights that says you have the right to go out into a gun-free public.”
As shown above, Jaxson, some protections in the Constitution may be altered in order to protect lives and provide for public safety. In addition, any argument that opposes gun-sale restrictions just because they constrict freedom and curtail the “right to keep and bear arms” is ludicrous. As you already know, under the terms of the social contract, all governments do, in fact, infringe on society’s rights and liberty as they exercise their mandate to achieve order, freedom, and equality.
Jaxson Raine wrote:
“They worded it as they did exactly because they had foresight. They lived through tyranny, and they had the foresight to give us rights that would allow us to overcome it if need be (among other things).”
This tired and frayed old argument warns we must be prepared to resist tyranny. Sadly, it is based on groundless fears and not on reality. Others with a similar mindset also say, “Laws will never prevent criminals from getting guns.” Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly told us right after the Colorado movie theater massacre, “The truth is, criminals will always get guns.” {2} You stated how you agree with the first of these two claims, Jaxson. Do you also agree with the second as well? The supreme irony of these two positions lies in the fact that the second argument nullifies the first. If our republic ever needs to repel tyranny, Jaxson, these pro-gun claims assure us that citizens can get all the weapons needed from the same sources the criminals now get their guns.
Jaxson Raine wrote:
“No constitutional right has been considered limited to the available resources at the time it was written.”
Finally, Jaxson, your stated conclusion appears to be false. Most firearm advocates focus on the protection granted in the Second Amendment and they completely ignore the rest of the Constitution. This last quote is not only inaccurate but it has the potential to bring down the entire pro-gun establishment. At the time our Constitution was written and ratified it contained the following provisions related to this discussion:
1. Amendment II protects the right of the people to bear arms.
2. Article IV, Section 2 protects the rights of slave owners.
3. Article V provides for amending the Constitution. {3}
The Constitutional rights of slave owners, once protected by Article IV, Section 2 in 2 above, were ipso facto “limited to the available resources at the time it was written” because they no longer exist. Amendment XIII completely abolishes the right to own slaves. {4}
The entire pro-gun establishment can learn a lesson from this. It needs to consider the consequences of their embarrassing stance. According to the NRA, “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” {5} Gun enthusiasts drone the rigid mantra claiming the only way to avoid future massacres like the carnage in Newtown is to place more guns in schools. A likely result of their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the need, and to offer support, for reasonable gun-sale restrictions could very well lead to a national grassroots movement to reduce or repeal many of the protections covered by the Second Amendment.
Never the less, there is a shameful lack of empathy from gun enthusiasts for the victims of Aurora, CO, Tucson, AZ, Columbine, CO, Blacksburg, VA, Austin, TX, San Diego, CA, Newtown, CT, and many other cities in the US. Blood is literally running in their streets, Jaxson, and the National Rifle Association, firearm manufacturers, and gun enthusiasts do not give damn! Personally, I do not support a ban on all guns, or even most guns. You live with a fear that Big Brother will take away your guns. I live with a fear of the unjustifiable power of the NRA and the money it receives from gun manufacturers, distributors, and retailers worldwide.
There is ample evidence showing how the NRA, firearm manufacturers, and gun enthusiasts spend a lot of money opposing common sense controls on the sale of guns. {6} They thwart every effort to keep guns from getting into the hands of the wrong people. Their reckless, self-serving stance shows a callused disregard for the many victims of gun violence. While every American has the right to own a gun if he wants one, every American also has the right to know that this is one right that is being exercised by stable, law-abiding, citizens.
I hope you have peace, Jaxson.
{1} http://bhs.bettendorf.k12.ia.us/teacher … ciety.pdf, p.8
{2} http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opi … un-control
{3} http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charte … 27.html#13
{4} Ibid.
{5} http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012 … lapierre/2
{6} http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the … n-1-chart/
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