Skip to comments.
It’s Time to Repeal—and Replace—the Second Amendment
The Nation ^
| August 8, 2019
| Elie Mystal
Posted on 08/07/2019 6:53:56 PM PDT by lowbridge
The Second Amendment is why we cant go to school, or work, or a house of worship, or a nightclub, or a movie theater, or a music festival, or pretty much any public gathering without fear of getting shot to death. The Second Amendment is why you cant be immediately arrested for openly carrying around an assault rifle in a public place, and why you cant be immediately arrested for smuggling a hand-cannon in your gym shorts. The Second Amendment is how law enforcement justifies the need for military-grade armamentsto match the firepower they meet in the streets. The Second Amendment is why we have a generation of young people that is scarred or missing from gun violence. And the Second Amendment is why I had to tell my 6-year-old last night to act like Scaredy Squirrel and play dead if an active shooter storms his classroom, thereby mangling the whole moral of the books.
-snip
Textually, the amendment itself is almost toothless and easily amenable to regulation. Hell, regulated is written right into its text: 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.
See. You dont have to be a constitutional scholar to conclude that this amendment is talking about the need for militias, not an individuals right to own a bazooka; and you dont have to be a historian to noodle out that the founding fatherswho revolted against a global superpowerthought that state militias were pretty cool.
-snip
It was only in the 1970s that the National Rifle Association basically invented the new constitutional theory that the Second Amendment conferred a personal right to own military grade weapons for self-defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenation.com ...
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; banglist; bringiton; crazywomen; eliemystal; fakenews; guns; justtryit; liberalagenda; liberalpropaganda; nra; secondamendment; thenation
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120, 121-140, 141-160, 161-169 last
To: Blood of Tyrants
If Patriots guns were taken away the first thing the Liberal Fascists would do is have ‘The Hunt’ in real life.
161
posted on
08/08/2019 7:39:20 AM PDT
by
DivineMomentsOfTruth
("There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." -GW)
To: marktwain
Am I mistaken or was it Ainsley on Fox and Friends this morning asking do we really need AK-15’s?
162
posted on
08/08/2019 7:43:57 AM PDT
by
DivineMomentsOfTruth
("There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." -GW)
To: DivineMomentsOfTruth
163
posted on
08/08/2019 7:45:42 AM PDT
by
central_va
(I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
To: lowbridge
Why not start at the top, do away with the 1st Amendment? Hell, it’ll be a utopia if we just do away with the entire bill of rights and the Constitution!
To: moovova
165
posted on
08/08/2019 8:20:00 AM PDT
by
SaveFerris
(Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
To: blueunicorn6
After the Democrat government assault at Waco that killed children.....”””
How many people remember that ERIC HOLDER was an assistant AG under Reno at that time & that HOLDER was the one urging the assault on the Koresh compound???
To: SaveFerris; SunkenCiv; Lurker; Liz; Jane Long; Olog-hai; hal ogen
Elie Mystal says he wants ‘pitchforks and torches’ outside pro-Trump Equinox chairman’s house.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-commentator-says-he-wants-pitchforks-and-torches-outside-pro-trump-equinox-chairmans-house
A guest on MSNBC called for “pitchforks and torches” outside the Hamptons residence of Equinox and SoulCycle chairman Stephen Ross after it became known that he was hosting a fundraiser for President Trump.
Above The Law executive editor Elie Mystal said he had “no problem” with putting a spotlight on billionaire donors like Ross “who fund this kind of racialized hate” since people of color are “already targets” under the Trump administration. He told the panel that he was willing to “go further.”
“I want pitchforks and torches outside this man’s house in the Hamptons,” Mystal said. “I’ve been to the Hamptons, it’s very nice. There’s no reason it has to be. There’s no reason he should be able to have a nice little party. There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be able to be outside of his house and making their voices peacefully understood.”
To: MarvinStinson
Typical Democrat terrorist he is.
168
posted on
08/09/2019 12:01:23 AM PDT
by
SaveFerris
(Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
To: marktwain
When the bulwark of state defense was the militia, privately armed, there may have been good reason for the historical and military test of the right to bear arms. But in this state the militia, although legally existent and composed of all able-bodied male citizens...is practically extinct and has been superseded by the National Guard and reserve organizations... The historical test would render the constitutional provision lifeless. The protection of the Constitution is not limited to militiamen nor military purposes, in terms, but extends to "every person" to bear arms for the "defense of himself" as well as of the state.
Here, let's play a little game of What-If.
What if the Second Amendment did only apply to the militia? What if, as these liberals believe, it was a collective right, and had nothing to do with recognizing the right of all the people to be armed? In that case, we must figure out exactly what the Founding Fathers meant by the 'militia'. Here's a few select quotes from the debates at Pennsylvania's Constitutional Convention:
- But what is meant of our militia? Why, when he spoke of them, he meant American citizens, accustomed to the use of arms; not in the camp or in the field, but American citizens accustomed to use THEIR ARMS, and to all that manual dexterity which could only be gained by long practice; not field maneouvering and marching, but a perfect knowledge of the rifle and the musket.
- ...Who saved Baltimore? ... Who obtained the victory at New Orleans? ... These militia, trained and disciplined in their own houses; not practised in the field, but BRINGING THEIR GUNS WHICH THEY WERE TAUGHT TO USE WHEN CHILDREN.."
If we read the Militia Act of 1792 we will have a better understanding what is meant by militia.
I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective States, resident therein, who is or shall be of age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia, by the Captain or Commanding Officer of the company, within whose bounds such citizen shall reside, and that within twelve months after the passing of this Act.
And a few more that I've gathered from all over the place:
- Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American... The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state government, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people (Tench Coxe, Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788)
- The prohibition is general. No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to Congress a power to disarm the people. Such a flagitious attempt could only be made under some general pretense by a state legislature. But if in any blind pursuit of inordinate power, either should attempt it, this amendment may be appealed to as a restraint on both. [William Rawle, A View of the Constitution 125-6 (2nd ed. 1829)
- I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for few public officials. (George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 425-426)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120, 121-140, 141-160, 161-169 last
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.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson