Over at "Great Blue Whale" GBW has extended a discussion he began on my blog. This concerns the right to keep and bear arms, the 2nd Amendment. You will find the first part of the discussion on BIRCHES below at "Another Dude Misunderstands Second Amendment" CLICK GBW is arguing for an unrestricted view of the 2nd Amendment --- that people have an absolute civil right to own firearms. I disagree with this very strongly and think the country is littered with gun-shot bodies because of that notion.
A number of people have added to the discussion both under "comments" on my blog and "comments" on his blog. CLICK FOR GREATBLUEWHALE
One important fact about GBW is that he is reasonable and civil, and well-spoken. I appreciate that.
People who read my blog have probably figured out that I have a sarcastic and negative view of gun ownership and violence. I invite you to join the civilized discussion.
2 comments:
It is truly amazing how well the Bill of Rights has served our democracy over the years. Despite the amazing acceleration of technological advances, despite our changing attitudes and social norms, despite world wars and plagues and even incredibly incompetent leadership at home and abroad, the Bill of Rights continues to protect us and be the symbol of what true freedom means. Yet, in this one area--the second amendment--we have been incredibly disserved. And this is true not perhaps because of the lack of vision of our founding fathers but because of a willful misreading of their intentions. The full amendment begins "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state..." No one can argue that we need any longer to form militias to protect our country, yet this is ignored by the "cold dead hand" folks. Bud kindly remarks that GBW is so civil and well-spoken. So are the representatives of the NRA who are here in South Carolina lobbying for a bill allowing our students to carry concealed weapons to school. Their civility and eloquence only makes them more dangerous.--Marsha
Marsha, I regret to inform you that intelligent, well-reasoned, and civil discourse is not the exclusive property of the political left, despite whatever impressions you may have gotten from Fox News. Your insinuation that smart, sincere right-wing arguments are necessarily sinister and deceptive is about as narrow as it gets, not to mention insulting to those of us who don't accept your specific ideology.
I would also differ with your glowing characterization of how the Bill of Rights has survived the years. If you take a close look at the Bill of Rights, I think you'll discover that about 8 or 9 of them are routinely ignored when government officials find it convenient to do so. Of course, they haven't yet crossed them off the list with a red sharpie, so I guess the document itself is still in good shape.
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