Monday 23 July 2012

Quick thoughts on the right to bear arms and patriotism in America



All rights are limited by law - and in the US, this is based on the Constitution. The right to bears arms is limited constitutionally by the well regulated militia.


Tell me, did James Holmes - who legally bought a heavy arsenal - belong to a well regulated militia?


Laws - at least in principle - are instituted not to limit freedom per se, but to protect the citizenry as a whole from anti-social and deleterious behaviours. Walking into a theatre and letting loose on an unsuspecting and wholly innocent group of movie-goers is anti-social and deleterious behaviour, which is why laws regarding accessibility to firearms needs to be regulated - if not banned outright - to non-regulated militia.


This is a no-brainer, folks. You may well disagree with me - as might the hugely influential gun lobby - but in defending these groups, you tacitly undermine not only people's rights to live in as free and safe a society as is demanded by you and your fellow citizens, but you have no respect for the Constitution under which your nation was formed.


I hear, all the time, from the pro-gun people, how patriotic the right to bear arms is (see final image on this post to see a perfect example of how that 'right' is cherry picked from the actual text in the first image), however, upon even a fragment of constitutional understanding, the patriotism these types espouse is wholly undermined by their narrow views of what the Constitution means to themselves and society as a whole.


There are a lot of these very types - shall we call them Libitarians and Republicans as a general rule of thumb - that have no regard for either the Constitution, nor the communities in which they live. If this is patriotism, you can keep it.


It is indefensible by any right-minded, socially functional and truly patriotic American.

2 comments:

  1. As long as the Christians are in power, and threatening to put this country under their version of Sharia law, I think I'll hang onto my guns.

    I'm not terrified of that happening, I simply see it as a reasonable possibility and why our founders saw the benefit of an armed citizenry.

    Massacres won't be prevented by stricter gun law, Norway can attest to that. All it will do is force somebody to break the law to get a gun - and we've all seen how well prohibition works.

    I'm in favor of simply making less crazy and desperate people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, yellownumbers5.

    Norway - 1
    USA - Oh my goodness, I seem to have lost count

    And here's just the school / uni massacres

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:School_killings_in_the_United_States

    ReplyDelete

Only Google Accounts accepted for comments.