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marmar

(77,073 posts) Fri Mar 22, 2013, 01:31 PM Mar 2013

Bowing to Second Amendment Myths

from Consortium News:

Bowing to Second Amendment Myths
March 21, 2013

Even as Democratic leaders propose gun-safety laws – after the slaughter of 20 first-graders in Newtown – they try to sound “reasonable” by genuflecting to the myth of Second Amendment “rights.” But this acceptance of right-wing propaganda is dooming these life-saving initiatives, says Beverly Bandler.

By Beverly Bandler

I sent a message to Vice President Joe Biden after reading an article by Josh Lederman in the Huffington Post, which quoted the Vice President as saying that: “the notion of registering guns crosses a cultural line, noting that unlike cars, which must be registered, guns are explicitly protected by the Constitution.”

But guns are not “explicitly protected by the Constitution.”

I am an ardent Democrat, but frankly, being an active member of the Democratic Party is increasingly frustrating in the extreme. We have so many intelligent, decent and hardworking progressives (real Democrats) in the party, but too frequently the impression left by prominent leaders is that either they are insufficiently educated about the Constitution and U.S. history (and Democratic principles). Or perhaps they have momentary lapses of memory and/or disconnects between brain and lip so typical of politicians with superficial “convictions.” Or maybe they are spinelessly intimidated by the National Rifle Association.

As Mark Twain once said: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That the Second Amendment lie perpetrated by the NRA and others has been costly is an understatement. It is time to correct it. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/21/bowing-to-second-amendment-myths/

4 replies

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Bowing to Second Amendment Myths (Original Post) marmar Mar 2013 OP

the supreme court disagrees bossy22 Mar 2013 #1

Bull shit. There isn't much that can't be restricted. xchrom Mar 2013 #2

K&R this COLGATE4 Mar 2013 #3

What is also often misunderstood GeoWilliam750 Mar 2013 #4

bossy22

(3,547 posts)

1. the supreme court disagrees

Reply to marmar (Original post)

Fri Mar 22, 2013, 02:12 PM

Mar 2013

I'm sorry, articles like these are not worth the electronic space they take up. Everyone of her arguments are "gun control talking points" to borrow the phrase.

While there is room for debate, this article doesn't foster any. It just makes unsupported statements.

But the argument that the 2nd amendment cannot possibly protect a right to personal weapons due to the way it's written is silly. We have a right to an abortion in this country- where is it explicitly protected in the constitution? Which amendment is the abortion amendment? Does the view of the american public not carry any weight as well?

the interpretation of the 2nd amendment is a complicated issue. Anyone who can dumb it down into an article like that doesn't deserve to speak on the issue.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)

2. Bull shit. There isn't much that can't be restricted.

Reply to bossy22 (Reply #1)

Fri Mar 22, 2013, 02:21 PM

Mar 2013

The history of 2a is that it was more restrictive than it is now.

COLGATE4

(14,732 posts)

3. K&R this

Reply to xchrom (Reply #2)

Fri Mar 22, 2013, 02:51 PM

Mar 2013

GeoWilliam750

(2,522 posts)

4. What is also often misunderstood

Reply to marmar (Original post)

Sat Mar 23, 2013, 05:43 AM

Mar 2013

Is that in much of pre-Civil War America - and especially colonial America, men were required to be a part of the militia. The only issue is that most of the militia did not actually have any guns. Guns were an expensive luxury - not only were they far from affordable, and very few people actually had a use for them as they did not put that much protein on the table, but they required expensive lead and powder that often had to be transported great distances - part of the reason for the early settlement of Iowa was the lead mines.

Most people did not own guns. Having looked through the estate inventories of hundreds of people from the 18th and 19th centuries, mention of guns are rare. Spoons, broken crockery, a rusty chain, old clothes and other things are commonly mentioned. Guns are not. Life was not easy, and there was little reason to spend a large amount of one's annual income on relatively useless luxury. And people too poor to have enough money for an inventory and settlement generally did not have enough money for a gun for which they had no real use.

I seem to recall that quite a lot of the drilling of new troops at the beginning of the Civil War was done with broomsticks because the soldiers had no weapons.

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