I do not ask that guns be outlawed. I ask that they be regulated properly to better insure that those who are mentally ill, those with a history of domestic violence, and those who are untrained do not have access to weapons capable of slaughtering 17 students and teachers in a matter of minutes.
I understand that the right to bear arms for a well regulated militia exists, but if we can modify the right to freedom of speech (as has been done repeatedly on the FIRST AMENDMENT) then we can do so for the SECOND AMENDMENT as well. No one walking the streets in the United States needs bump stocks. No one living in an urban area or any suburban or rural area needs the capacity to fire 30 rounds or more per minute.
Requiring that people with firearms be insured is not an infringement of anyone's rights, any more than automobile insurance is an infringement. requiring that anyone who wants to have a firearm have proper training is not an infringement. Requiring that people buy their weapons (or transfer the ownership through proper channels) is not an infringement. THESE ARE SIMPLE, COMMON SENSE SOLUTIONS.
Requiring that ammunition be sold in stores rather than online is not an infringement. TAXING AMMUNITION THE SAME WE WE TAX CIGARETTES (any tobacco related products) OR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IS NOT AN INFRINGEMENT AND COULD BE USED TO BETETR SECURE OUR SCHOOLS AGAINST WOULD BE MURDERERS.
LASTLY, THE NRA CAN GO SUCK ITSELF FOR DOING EVERYTHING IT CAN TO BLOCK ANY COMMON SENSE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE ALWS AND REGULATIONS THAT SHOULD EXIST IN THIS COUNTRY.
Part of this has been posted before. I'm posting HERE for the first time.
Dear Joe The Plumber: F___ Your
Rights.
And, up on the soap box again.
I have said before and I will likely say many more times that
I absolutely believe in the Second Amendment. I also believe in the First
Amendment, which allows for free speech and permits you to be a narcissistic
ass by making your statement about your rights to the grieving parents of youths
murdered by a mentally unstable and deluded brat before he killed himself with
the same firearm he used in a shooting spree.
I firmly believe in the Second Amendment and I believe, as I
have already said, in the First Amendment. But you know what? I believe the
interpretation might be a bit generous. There are occasions where the First
Amendment has exceptions:
Incitement: Want to start a riot with your words? That's a no-no.
False Statement of
Fact: That means the vast
majority of politicians and most of the reporters for Fox News should all get
their mouths washed out with soap.
Obscenity: That means I censored a certain four letter word in my
header. It's considered "obscene" by a lot of people.
Child Pornography: Means some people are sick and should be locked away
from children for all eternity (And just possibly used as targets at the local
gun range, but some people might think that last bit is a wee bit extreme.).
Fighting Words and
Offensive Speech: Remember
"Incitement" up above? This is just another way of reminding us that
picking fights with your words, even on a personal scale, is not legally
protected.
Threats: With the exception of situations that are obviously
hyperbole like "Imma punch you so hard you go into orbit." Threats
are not taken lightly and are not protected by the Bill of Rights. In fact in
Georgia, if you threaten to kick someone's posterior, it's technically a
"terroristic threat" and a felony. I don't know how that breaks down
in the rest of the country. See, I'm a writer, not a lawyer or a plumber, so I
might not understand all the shades of gray out there.
Speech Owned By
Others: Note how I'm not even
quoting you here. Your words are yours. They might be disgusting,
self-indulgent fecal matter that express how deeply important it is for you to
own penis substitutes to newly grieving parents, but they are still
yours.
Commercial Speech: Truth in advertising. Lie enough and you could get in
trouble again, especially if you are doing it to sell product.
Governmental Control
Issues:
Government as Employer, Government as Regulator of the
Airwaves, Government as Educator, Government as
Subsidizer/Speaker, Government as Regulator of the Bar, Government as
Controller of the Military, Government as Prison Warden, Government as
regulator of Immigration.
Those are all exceptions to the First Amendment, an Amendment
that I hold near and dear to my heart.
Now, let's look at The Second Amendment, shall we?
Here it is:
"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."
Know what that means? Of course you do.
Here's one for you, Joe: What about MY Right not to get
shot?
That would fall under the Ninth Amendment:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Your right to bear arms does not override my right to not get
shot by a lunatic who had easy access to a weapon.
Additionally the United States Declaration of Independence
says we have three unalienable rights including "life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness."
All of which is to say that I DO respect the Second
Amendment. I also believe that if changes and justifications can be
made to the First Amendment, they can and should be made to the Second
Amendment as well and that those qualifiers and changes in no way, shape
or form prevent you from defending your home.
I firmly believe that proper screening, proper safety
regulations and proper educations should all be required before anyone in this
country is allowed to carry a loaded weapon outside of their own home or,
frankly, inside of their home. (Just yesterday another toddler killed a younger
sibling because the parent or parents were too careless or stupid to know not
to leave loaded weapons where a toddler could get to it. I feel for the
parents. I do. I also believe the owner of that weapon should be stripped of
the privilege of owning a weapon and very possibly prosecuted for
manslaughter.
I also tend to think that since we have a very powerful
military (possibly the greatest in the world, though I expect that's
up to debate with some other countries) we could maybe acknowledge that we've
got that militia part covered, but that's just me.
And so on a side note, because I can and I have the right, I
think you’re a moron and a loser and while I respect your rights, your lack of
common decency regarding the grief that several families are enduring lowers my
respect for you, low as it might have been.
And, off the soap box again.
Don't agree? Fire away. Please feel free to use logical reasons why these are not good ideas.
