"If this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are going to start looking for second amendment remedies..."
Well, now we have an unhinged individual who found a 'second amendment remedy', which looks a lot like a critically injured middle-aged man. Six years ago, it was Representative Gabrielle Giffords who was shot after Sarah Palin's PAC put out a suggestive ad 'putting crosshairs' on Giffords. There is a strain throughout the American populace which is overly comfortable with the notion of using arms for political aims, including a creep who was actually at the scene of today's shooting:
Rand Paul's statement would seem to condone today's shooting- after all, who gets to be the arbiter of 'tyranny' when arms are available to just about any despondent, desperate, or deranged individual?
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, there was a workplace shooting and a lockdown at a military base.
In the wake of Scalise's shooting, Michigan Republican Representative Mike Bishop stated that he was convinced that he was being hunted by the gunman. Well, welcome to the world that you've helped to build for the rest of us... now, what the hell are you going to do to get all of us out of it? 'Second Amendment Solutions' are ugly things, but they're all you've got when the only tool you have is a gun.
UPDATE: This is a bit awkward...
SECOND UPDATE: Remember this charming bit from Trump?
I'm very glad to see this post! I wish some serious legal scholars would get to work analysing how the 2nd Amendment fits or doesn't fit within the legal, constitutional framework the country has constructed over the centuries. It seems to me that Rand Paul (in your quote) puts his finger right on it--as does Angle. And why does a big lobby--NRA--run the whole conversation? After Newtown can anything ever be done to address this horrible cancer on the Constitution?
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ReplyDeleteIf the gunman had used a silencer, it might have delayed the response of the security officers, thus increasing the likelihood of a number of deaths on that ball field. Will Representative Mike Bishop now re-submit his bill for the expansion of access to silencers? This is utter madness.
The gun is the American Codpiece.
ReplyDeleteThe chance to act out your resentment and domination fantasies.
That's why there are about 90 gun deaths a day.
There's a reason why only three other nations have a constitutional guarantee. Nobody wants their hands tied when they want to pass local regulations around the possession and use of deadly weapons. We will never achieve any actual gun control in the US because no matter how many people WANT it and would vote for it, it only takes one guy to get it overturned in the courts. The constitutional protection is a guarantee because it will always hold up in the courts.
ReplyDeleteAn earlier commenter mentioned the modern suppressor law. You can be for it or against it, but again, facts matter:
1.) Suppressed .223 is quite loud because the rounds are supersonic, and make more noise traveling through the air than they do when fired. You can load up some subsonic .223, but subsonic 55 grain slugs are not going to be very effective, and even with subsonic ammo the suppressed AR is louder than an unsuppressed .22LR.
2.) Suppressors are expensive, finnicky accessories that require a lot of expertise to use and manage. Very few shooters would ever use one, and those that do would tend to be of the more responsible variety (me, for example).
Excellent post. I am going to forward. And you are right. The guy felt the Rs had become tyrannical. Is Rand Paul out of his tiny selfish ignorant mind?
ReplyDelete"Our thoughts and prayers...." Thoughts and prayers are the cheap currency used to pay off those damaged by the actions of those offering them.
ReplyDelete"Why do we have a Second Amendment?"
ReplyDeleteFor optimizing the hunting down of fugitive slaves.
BAG ---->CAT---->
Guns and baseball - America's two national pastimes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments, folks, and thanks for the Crooks and Liars linky-love.
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