Posted on 12/30/2014 3:19:55 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
What country fetishizes, lionizes, valorizes, idolizes, and sacralizes guns as much as does our United States? OK, possibly Mozambique — the only country with an AK47 on its flag, but really, it's long past time to end this obsessive "My Precious" attachment of Americans to instruments of death.
This morning of Dec. 25, 2014, of the nine top stories from US Reuters, six were about shootings — four new ones and two about the national movement against shootings of citizens by police. This pandemic of sick violence, punctuated by mass killings of children, has gone on far, far too long. It is long past time to repeal the stupid Second Amendment.
The fate of the Second Amendment should have been sealed when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that past rulings by their predecessors were wrong, that in fact the amendment that provided for a "well regulated militia" really guaranteed every individual the right to own a gun. Wow. That is an interesting reading of the English language. What the Supremes have done is to not only warp the meaning and make it into twisted law, but to further prohibit states and local governments from declaring their places free of legal guns. The conservative court once again rules against the power of states, a principle that used to be associated with darn liberals who wanted to make sure everyone had the right to vote, for example, even though they weren't properly white enough. Now when a city or state wants to outlaw firearms, too bad. The conservatives took away their powers and rights in favor of Big Brother.
The only logical path, given the clearly decided role of the Second Amendment, is to repeal it. American people are tired of mass shootings and police shootings and family feud shootings and sibling shootings and accidental toddler shootings and teen suicide by gun (highly popular).We are exhausted by the proliferation of death, of threats, of bloodshed, and by the NRA/gun industry moral garbage spewing forth every time someone challenges the ubiquity of guns.
Repeal the Stupid Second Amendment. Surround it, grab it, bring it in the back room, pull down the shades, and end it. OK, petition for it, get it on the ballot, and get it done by enough of the US populace, by enough people in enough states, to get it consigned to the dustbin of history.
*******
Tom H. Hastings is PeaceVoice Director and teaches in the Conflict Resolution program at Portland State University in Oregon.
Tom H. Hastings teaches in the Portland State University Conflict Resolution MA/MS program. He directs PeaceVoice, a program of the Oregon Peace Institute. His books include: Hundred thoughts on nonviolence (in press); The lessons of nonviolence (2006); Power (2005), Nonviolent response to terrorism (2004); Meek t weak: Nonviolent power and people of color (2002); and Ecology of war and peace: Counting costs of conflict (2000). With Seattle writer Geov Parrish, he wrote the 2002 War Resisters League calendar datebook, 52 true stories of nonviolent success.
He is a nonviolent peace, justice and environmental activist, a Plowshares nonviolent veteran of three prisons and has done nonviolence trainings for more than 30 years across the US. He is a past chair and current board member of the Peace and Justice Studies Association, and on the Board of Directors of the Oregon Peace Institute. He is on the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association and on the Board of Directors of the International Peace Research Association Foundation. He is on the Academic Advisory Council of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. He lives in the Portland Catholic Worker community Whitefeather House, and hikes and bikes for fun (transportain andhe owns no automobile).
hastings@pdx.edu
What a complete moron, funded by our tax dollars.
BULLCRAP.
:D
Sorry excuse the language.
Guns are a big part of what freedom we have left. They built this country, and, brought us our freedom in the first place.
Hastings needs his butt kicked. :)
Seriously, can this idiot think of ONE reason that we would want to give the government a monopoly on firepower?
It is rare to find somebody who is wrong about everything, at every level.
But when you do, that person is likely to be a Peace Voice Director teaching Conflict Resolution Studies at a university.
It would make for a nice piece of fiction: a book about a post-2A repeal United States where the government battles its armed citizenry, prying gun after gun from cold hands, until there are no longer any armed authorities left prying guns.
History is rife with evidence that when guns are removed from the hands of private citizens death by government is sure to follow.
nice pony tail dude.
I know all I need to know about him with his braided pony tail.
Come and get ‘em Tommie boy.
I have enough scrap in my scrap pile, and enough tools to outfit a small medieval army, if I have enough time, or a couple of helpers.
/johnny
It doesn't get in the way of the action on my semi-autos. My beard sometimes gets caught in the action.
/johnny
What a truly creepy individual.
Pre-pubescent boys in Pakistan build AK-47’s by hand.
In mine too.
You’re not some pacific Northwest hippy a$$hole like he is, either. In this instance, it is a dead giveaway of what he is.
He's also zombie proof as all his brains have been replaced by noodles.
Replace “Second” with “First” there professor...countless feelings are hurt daily by spoken words. What’s the matter, you don’t care about people’s feelings? What kind of awful human are you...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.