Well the gun debate has begun and if you write about it you will be lambasted from all sides……you will be a survival nut or some Leftist that wants all guns……..but I recently found sides of the debate and thought I would give both to my readers….without taking sides……
(Newser) – The debate over gun laws brings renewed attention to the debate over the Second Amendment, with two very different takes today from the left and right:
- Noble intent: Erick Erickson as RedState offers a history lesson. “On April 19, 1775, British regulars marched on Lexington and Concord to seize the guns of American colonists that had been stockpiled in case of revolution,” he writes. “It may be an abstract concept for us. It may be distant. But when the 1st Congress of the United States met in 1789, the memory of 1775 was fresh.” The amendment is all about protecting citizens from the abuses of their own government. Full post here.
- Awful intent: Nope, writes Thom Hartmann at Alternet. The Second Amendment was written to protect slavery. The slave states needed militias to keep rebellions in check and were worried the federal government would disband them. That’s why the line about a “well regulated militia being the best security of a free country” got changed to “free state” in the final version. Read the full post here.
I know that this will not change anyone’s mind on where they stand on guns…….it is not my inyention to try and make a case for one side or the other…..all I wanted was to try and put both sides of the debate in one place and maybe people would read the two and see that there is common ground for the hard core people on either side of the issue…….
Remember these are opinions and not one of them is mine………..(like that disclosure will make a difference)…….
I’ve got another post coming out this morning that hits on the “original intent” theme and in it I take a quote from David Sawnson’s article Wait Just a Goddam Second Amendment. Match it with Erick Erickson’s piece and you’ll see where it’s use for “protecting citizens from the abuses of their own government”, among other things, was to be handled by a “well-regulated militia”, not a group of rogue vigilantes.
Thanx Larry and excellent piece in Truth Out…….
You know… neither of these are mutually exclusive. It is quite likely that both of them are part of the original intent.
I noticed one point about the original intent that both sides seem to gloss over is that back then it was essential that you had a gun especially if you lived in the Appalachians. Not only did those individuals have to deal with predators, there were also potential for problems with the indigenous population. That is not to mention that they were also a means to feed the family.
Hi Terrant………protection……yep and I feel that the whole gun thingy is a little chaotic…one side wants to control assault weapons and mags and the other wants to protect a persons right to own such a weapon…..as I say a lot….if someone feels they must have one of these on hand at all times then join the military and their desire will become reality…..
The problem is that an AR-15 is not unlike a semi-automatic hunting rifle. When it comes down to it, the side that wants to ban weapons like the AR-15 are wanting to ban guns simply because they look scary. Banning a weapon because of its appearance is not really meaningful IMHO.
I think the energies need to be applied to making changes to the law that are meaningful such as background check for any sales or transfer, licensing (for competency), etc…
Terrant, in my mind if you need more than 3 shots in hunting then go to Winn-Dixie…I like the checks, the competency and I would say get rid of large capacity clips…….keep your AR-15 but without the clips….and as far as collectors go, a typical defense, then that is okay too just make the license for the collection substantial…..
What is a reasonable size for a magazine? If it’s too low, it becomes useless for self-defense (don’t think just burgluries but also civil disorder here). IMHO, 30 which is standard for the AR-15 is too much but 7 that New York begrudging allows is too low.
Also, should the same stand standard apply to both hand guns and long arms/carbines?
If one needs more than 10 rounds, then maybe a shotgun would be a better choice. Yep, the same….
Wow. How does Thom explain the fact that we had militia’s before we had a country?
In the case of Ethan Allen and the “Green Mountain Boys” we had a militia before we had a Federal Government and a State.