[Beckwith]

sure, you have the right to keep and bear arms (whether openly or concealed--it makes no difference), but you oughtn't do it, because it upsets people."

Does this apply to the 1st Amendment, as well? I get much more upset at what people say, than watching a responsible citizen walk down the street armed.

[marktwain]

“Does this apply to the 1st Amendment, as well? I get much more upset at what people say, than watching a responsible citizen walk down the street armed.”

---

It certainly does on most college campi, and in Canada and most of Europe. It is what the left is trying to get passed in this country.

Make no mistake, the First Amendment is under attack by the left as well as the Second Amendment.

[Cicero]

"but you oughtn't do it, because it upsets people."

That's annoying enough, but if you parse it, it's even worse. "Upsetting" people is on the verge of becoming a legalized hate crime. But the unwritten rule is that it only counts if a liberal or a member of a designated victim group claims that he is upset.

If a conservative is upset, for instance by watching or reading about the spectacle of police harrassing someone peacefully carrying a legal weapon, he can go pound sand. If a liberal is upset by someone asserting a constitutional right, then it's a hate crime, and some activist judge is all too likely to convict this upstart.