Posted on 06/26/2008 11:51:58 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Liberals, who hate guns almost as much as they hate cars, got a well-deserved lesson in Second Amendment rights when the Supreme Court spit in their face by ruling that the Constitution really does guarantee the right of Americans to own guns.
The ruling, which struck down the District of Columbias laws almost totally restricting handgun ownership, affirmed the traditional view that the Second Amendment means exactly what it says when it guarantees "the right of the people to keep and bear arms."
The avid gun-grabbers have long insisted that the accompanying clause, A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state" restricts the right to bear arms to members of said militia -- a sophistry in view of the fact that at the time the amendment was adopted, the militia included all able-bodied adult white males.
As Thomas B. McAffee & Michael J. Quinlan, writing in the North Carolina Law Review, March 1997, Page 781, stated "... Madison did not invent the right to keep and bear arms when he drafted the Second Amendment -- the right was pre-existing at both common law and in the early state constitutions."
Obviously, the Founders were not gun grabbers, as the gun-grabbing community would have us believe. Actually, unlike todays liberals, they had faith in their fellow citizens and in their ability to avail themselves of their rights in a safe and reasonable manner.
The District of Columbia law was based on the fallacious idea that by banning hand gun ownership by citizens except under the most onerous conditions, criminals -- a not un-sizeable part of the districts population even with the exclusion of members of Congress as a criminal class -- wouldnt be able to buy and own guns and thus continue their murderous ways.
Cmon now. Do they really believe that criminals buy their guns in legitimate gun shops? Or do they understand that their anti-handgun laws havent made even the slightest dent to the citys incredible murder rate? Dont they realize that their Draconian gun laws punish honest citizens unable to protect themselves and their homes, and not the thugs who are on a killing rampage on the streets of the nations capital?
They share the fantasies of the nations elitist gun-grabber fanatics who simply refuse to believe that the majority of their fellow citizens are mature enough to be trusted to own handguns, or for that matter, to conduct their affairs without Big Brothers guidance and control.
The liberals who want to ban gun ownership are the same liberals whod like to drive family-sized automobiles off the nations streets and highways, prohibit the use of fossil fuels because they allegedly harm the environment and contribute to non-existent global warming -- a fantasy they are inflicting on the American people -- and demonizing carbon dioxide, a natural gas without which life on earth cannot survive.
The Supreme Court ruling has been greeted by the American people as a welcome sign that many of their rights long threatened by out-of-control judges who make or misinterpret laws, rather than enforcing them, are now at last being safeguarded by the High Court.
Thats a dangerous misconception. The new decision was a 5-4 ruling. That tiny majority, often reversed in other rulings that defy the meaning of the Constitution, will vanish if the liberals manage to elect Barack Obama and give his party sufficient control of Congress to guarantee that future Court vacancies will be filled with activist liberal justices who will turn the Constitution upside down.
We won a big one this time but the battle is far from won.
Firearms ownership is part and parcel of the original concept of citizenship - hence the second amendment. As Justice Scalia described, the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right - just as free speech, the right to assembly, freedom of religion, etc. form the core of the orginal American culture.
As an armed citizen, I am able to defend my home and my family and can also form part of the defense of my neighborhood. It is my responsibility to know the safe and responsible handling of all my firearms and as part of that, I practice regularly and keep my firearms serviceable, maintained, and available.
There has been no crime of any significance in our neighborhood and I will do my best to ensure that this remains this way.
You do not have to have a firearm - it's your choice. In my view, you are neglecting your responsibilities, but there should be more than enough of your fellow citizens that are willing to take up your slack.
There are many respected studies that show that where citizens are armed, crime is reduced because criminals are cowards and only prefer unarmed and helpless victims.
Antigun types are a strange group - they want their felolow citizens to be armed and only the uniformed police and soldiers to be armed. Lots of other countries have that policy but they really aren't democracies, are they? In this country we are all members of our own government, that's the difference.
I wish I shared your optimism for what's left of the American Spirit.
Your doorstep or somebody else's?
If you have a kitchen fire break out, be sure to run down to your local Home Depot to buy a fire extinquisher. If you're willing to wait long enough you might be able to get one on sale.
They burn out quickly too.
That doesn’t prove anything. For a start off, how do you know said “mutt” was going to try and rob you? He might have been an honest customer, but took one look at you and your cannon and fled in terror!
In the second place, even if he was planning a robbery or whatever, how have you managed to deter him? He might not rob YOU, but his reason to commit a crime, and his capability to do it, are still there. You haven’t stopped a crime, you’ve simply relocated it.
“Is such measure the determining factor in what rights we have?”
No, it isnt. As I said earlier.
What makes you think I dont believe in private gun owhership?
“Would the crime rate be higher or lower if the right to own guns was removed?”
I dont think it would make much difference one way or another.
Hint. I live in England. With respect, I know more about what goes on here than you do.
Well look, Im not denying your experiences, but they are, as you say, anecdotal. Im not saying that doesnt make them true and real to you, but think about what you are actually saying. You lived in a very dangerous city where crime was rampant, and then you moved to a very rural place where it wasn’t, and yet you assume that you haven’t suffered crime because you are armed! I live in a rural area and I dont carry firearms, and I sleep safe in my bed too. Surely the more obvious conclusion is that some places are more crime-ridden than others?
The one time I have suffered a break-in I wasn’t present in the house (as is usual). The police who came and checked it out filled me in on what was happening with perfect candour, far better than all these statistics that people play around with to prove whatever point they want to. In my rural small town, 90-95% or all crime is drink or drug related. And thats ALL crime..from murder to assault (because people are stoned), from house break-ins to shoplifting (because they need money for their “fix”). So why are we getting so hung up about owning guns, or not owning them, when the real problem is “the dragon” roaming the streets here and now?
I dont want to disrespect your very neighbourly action in the past. Someone came to rob, and you used your gun to stop them. That’s good. The point I am trying to make (in the face of the knee-jerk reactions of most of this forum) is that you haven’t stopped the reason WHY they are coming to rob. If you just thinking packing a concealed weapon is going to keep you and yours safe you have another think my friend, because those criminals will keep on coming, unless we, as a society, tackle the root causes of why people in a very affluent society still feel the need to commit crime.
You LOSE!
“The malaise of DC’s criminal underground can be easily cured as it has elsewhere.”
Where would that be then?
“By the LAW ABIDING taking serious steps to ensure their own safety. Like procuring a firearm, learning to use it, and to actually defend themselves from criminal actors.
Circle the wagons, eh?
“Do that, and crime WILL drop. Like it has everywhere else it’s been put into practice.”
Would that be because the criminals don’t need money any more?
Thanks.
Just your typical Brit.
Two thoughts from a well-educated Freeper:
1. Guns do deter crime - Please read Dr. John Lott’s “More Guns, Less Crime” The mere display of a handgun has saved over 1,000,000 assaults on what would otherwise be victims. Gun control is VICTIM disarmament.
2. Folks like you will never get my guns. If they do, the guns will be warmer than I am.
Blessings
Its so much easier to insult someone than engage with the argument.
“The mere display of a handgun has saved over 1,000,000 assaults on what would otherwise be victims.”
Mmm...does Dr Lott say what happened ater the would be assulters were deterred?
“Folks like you will never get my guns. If they do, the guns will be warmer than I am.”
What “folks” am I like? Why do you think I want to take your gun away from you? I haven’t said that at all.
Then, you are a fool.
Hint. I live in England. With respect, I know more about what goes on here than you do.
That's great! Maybe one day you can go to jail for defending yourself with a bat or a club or knife like all the others whose stories I read.
Your point about deterred assailants makes mine. The attackers are going to continue until stopped. No amount of gun regulation will change that.
I would recommend that assailants be shot. Large calibers are best.
The core of your argument is the need for a change in the human heart. That will not occur via government action of any kind. Support your local (bible-based) church.
In the meantime, protect the innocent. Vigorously. Again, large calibers are best.
I appreciate that you will not take my guns. Be careful that you do not support those who would do so out of a witless idealism.
Curiously, I am against the death penalty. Life is precious. But we are at times forced to choose quickly which life to save. Again, save the innocent even if it means destroying the evil. Did I say large calibers are best?
Blessings on You and Your House.
Good enough to be armed to the teeth to resist the Nazis in the Second World War - where they were the inspiration to all mankind - yet today can't be trusted to train their Olympic pistol team anywhere in Britain!
Those of us that prize our identities and our responsibilities as Americans will never lay down and let that happen here.
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