Posted on 03/14/2003 6:03:09 PM PST by tpaine
Introduction
It is high time for the federal government to outlaw gun possession by anyone except the police and the military, and to round up all firearms currently in private hands. Millions of Americans think so, but even the most aggressive of America's gun control groups have not been willing to advocate such a policy. Into the breach has stepped the Communitarian Network, arguably the most influential think tank in Washington. In a lengthy position paper, The Case for Domestic Disarmament (Domestic Disarmament), the Communitarian Network presents a forceful law-and-policy case for a gun-free America.
Domestic Disarmament is noteworthy because it is almost the only scholarly document arguing at length for confiscating all guns, rather than merely outlawing the future production of certain "bad" guns (such as handguns and so-called "assault weapons"). Domestic Disarmament is particularly important because it is a product of the Communitarian Network, the think tank that, far more than any other, has the ear of President Clinton and many other leading Democrats (and *440 some Republicans).
Moreover, Domestic Disarmament offers an entirely new vantage point from which to view the firearms issue--from the communitarian context, in which the individual's responsibilities to society are seen as more important than the unlimited exercise of rights.
This Article evaluates and responds to Domestic Disarmament and the Communitarian Network's gun prohibition agenda. In addition to discussing Domestic Disarmament, this Article considers David C. Williams's Civic Republicanism and the Citizen Militia: The Terrifying Second Amendment, which calls for a somewhat different communitarian approach to gun policy. Williams argues that the Second Amendment poses no impediment to any form of gun control on individuals, and in the long term, the government should revive the "well regulated Militia" and encourage citizen proficiency with arms and participation in communal defense organizations.
Part I of this Article provides an overview of communitarianism and the Communitarian Network and summarizes the argument of Domestic Disarmament. Part II inquires into whether domestic disarmament is enforceable and what communitarian problems may be raised by enforceability issues. Part III sketches a variety of possible solutions to the American gun dilemma, including the communitarian militia proposals of Williams.
Part IV briefly reviews the contribution that firearms ownership may make to public safety, and Part V closely scrutinizes Domestic Disarmament's conclusion that the Second Amendment presents no barrier to firearms confiscation.
For too long, the American gun control debate has avoided the most fundamental issues. The progun and antigun lobbies both agree that there are "good" gun owners and "bad" gun owners; the main issues concern drawing a line between the two and determining what kinds of measures should be used to keep the two groups separate. In addition, the antigun lobbies argue that there are good guns (many types of rifles and shotguns) and bad guns (handguns and assault weapons) and that no gun control policy should deprive good Americans of their good guns.
Nevertheless, none of the major policy groups participating in the American gun debate argues, as does the Communitarian Network, that America's gun policy should be modeled on Japan's, in which communitarian values prevail, guns are almost entirely prohibited, and gun violence is rare.
By forcefully raising the issue of whether any Americans should have guns at all, the Communitarian Network performs a great service by inviting inquiry into the most fundamental premises of the American gun control debate. In this Article, the authors hope to advance the inquiry begun by Domestic Disarmament.
(Excerpt) Read more at i2i.org ...
Beg on.
"An amendment to the Constitution obviously appealed to temperance reformers more than a federal statute banning liquor. A simple congressional majority could adopt a statute but, with the shift of a relatively few votes, could likewise topple one. Drys feared that an ordinary law would be in constant danger of being overturned owing to pressure from liquor industry interests or the growing population of liquor-using immigrants. A constitutional amendment, on the other hand, though more difficult to achieve, would be impervious to change. Their reform would not only have been adopted, the Anti-Saloon League reasoned, but would be protected from future human weakness and backsliding."Repealing National Prohibition by David Kyvig, Copyright 1979 by the University of Chicago
Especially enlightening is the discussion regarding the breakdown of law enforcement and military if an order was given to seize all privately-owned firearms.
Regards...
The the 2nd Ammendment is one of the few tools that would hold the government to honesty or accountablity. Once the people are unarmed the state is free plunder what it wants. We all know that, but the gun grabers, concerned about the public safety(yeah, right) will tell any lie to divert the less informed public from knowing the intent of the law.
What the ...? The rest of the states are tripping over themselves to liberalize gun laws after the fiasco of gun bans in DC, NYC, and Detroit.
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