Guns
I must tell you, I hate guns. I don't own a gun. I have never owned a gun.I have never shot a gum. I believe if guns were outlawed we would not have all these killings. Is it worth a 250 year old Constitutional right to accept all these killings? People have all sorts of Constitutional laws they would rewrite, but don't touch our guns. Lets kill the Electoral College, but leave our guns alone. At least we could limit certain guns. We used to have an AWB ban, but Republicans told us the people did not want that ban. Again, cries for gun control. As usual that will go nowhere. 4 dead in Ohio was enough to help get a president to resign. We need a Constitutional rewrite and the first of many things to go should be the 2nd amendment. My opinion. Yours.
I'm with you, but from a different direction. I qualified on all sorts of military weapons back when I was a young Army officer. My career as an ammunition scientist included the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant and 25 years as lab and production mgr. in primer production. That said, I don't own a gun, never have and never will, like you. The Constitution explicitly details in its causative phrase "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State-", written in the time of black powder flintlock hunting long guns in pioneer homes. Despite the militia becoming obsolete very quickly, we note that SCOTUS judge Scalia declared the phrase as meaningless (in what context who knows?). In my business contacts, I got to know many gun owners, from hunters to hobby collectors and many of them take ownership seriously and safely.
ReplyDeleteBut there is a large and growing number of paranoid folk who need 'protection'. They are loud and pumped up by the NRA. Never in this country should a child with a military weapon, or any weapon, or a psycho murder school children en masse. Surely if Jefferson, Adams and Hamilton were writing the constitution these days, it would be rational and not some political issue which
dismisses little kids deaths as 'collateral damage'. Shame on the gun culture. This old man agrees with you. Old Man.
Thanks for stopping by BB-Idaho.
DeleteThere was always the argument between militia and individual gun rights. I always sided with the militia side because that's what the Constitution says. But no more. The Roberts court has found that individuals have the right to own guns. It still leaves open restrictions on guns until that issue comes before the Supreme Court.
The NRA has done a disservice for guns and gun owners. They should have been pushing gun safety instead of everything goes gun laws.
I am glad to hear from somebody so well versed in guns and ammunition, as I am not.
Sam and BB... one of the little discussed ironies of the gun ownership debate is the phrase frequently seen from those who support wide gun ownership... "God, guns & country".
ReplyDeleteEarly Christianity would have had no use for guns. They were pacifists and did not support the use of force at all, military service, or even self defense. Like the Apostle Paul, the believed when they placed their lives in the hands of Jesus, they also placed their rights in those same hands, effectively giving up their rights. Essentially, early Christians chose to forgo their rights.
Further, they believed and lived out scripture that called believers "aliens" in their lands, because their citizenship was in heaven.
To claim belief in God, alongside a faith in the Lordship of Jesus meant that Christians did not claim their country or the rights of their country.
For the God, guns & country crown to link those three, plus claim their rights, shows they are either not truly lovers of God and followers of Christ, or are severely misinformed theologically about their faith.
But, for the secular ppl, I get it. So... handguns? Sure, with registration, training, a permit and regular examinations. Like your driver's license. Single shot hunting rifles? Sure... 100%. Again, registration, training, etc.
Multishot rifles or semiautomatics along the lines of AR-15's, Bushmasters, etc? Not permitted. Not available. Illegal. 100%
Thanks for stopping by Dave,
DeleteI am an atheist. But "God, gun, and country" seems incompatible with religious traditions and law. God and guns in the same sentence is incompatible. Short of a gun ban restrictions seem logical; but something the NRA and the Republicans cannot bring themselves to do. What else is left to do? Pray. That has not seemed to help over the last 2000 decades.