MooseMan3000

Fine, I'm reading between the lines. I'm still not seeing much. To claim that he is a "bitter enemy of the Second Amendment" is totally unfair. Even if he is against private, individual gun ownership, he could still be for the Second Amendment.

Actual text of Second Amendment: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

I'm still undecided on this matter myself, but it is entirely possible to read that amendment to mean that militias are allowed to keep and bear arms, without giving individuals the right to do so. Ever since the concept of Judicial Review was introduced, our Supreme Court has existed solely to try to interpret the meaning of the Constitution, because we DON'T know exactly what it means. In my opinion, this is one of the more ambiguous cases.

And the article that is mentioned from USAToday? According to this article, it says "America Votes discussed gun-ban legislation." I hardly see this as "rock-solid proof." First, it doesn't give any information on WHAT legislation exactly they reviewed OR what they said about it. And more importantly, America Votes is an INDEPENDENT organization. John Kerry is not affiliated with this organization. This NRA article is trying to make up opinions (again, they were never specifically cited... just alluded to) and pin them on John Kerry, when he is not involved with this organization.

Now what next...

First things first. What exactly is that supposed to mean? I fail to see a complete sentence in that mess of words. If I understand it correctly, however, it SHOULD say something along the lines of "Pollster John Martilla, an adviser to the NRA-PVF, rated John Kerry an 'F' when presented with the results of a national survey that Kerry conducted on behalf of the Brady Campaign."

Well, ASSUMING that I got that right, let's decipher the MEANING behind it. He gave Kerry an "F." What did he give Kerry an "F" in? Was it his grammar? Was it his opinions on private gun ownership? Was it the way he conducted the survey? (Note that even if "John Kerry" conducted the survey, it wasn't actually him... just some organization affiliated with him) Was it the fact that it mentioned the Brady Campaign? Your article doesn't explain where that "F" came from, nor what it is about.

Edit: I forgot to mention this... if the sentence in the article I just mentioned is actually worded correctly, then it says "Pollster John Martilla presented the results of a national survey that he conducted on behalf of the Brady Campaign!" OK, good for John.




Alright, I'm done with that article. Now to my own opinions.

I will most likely vote for Kerry (I most certainly will NOT vote Bush) in the upcoming election, but it will have nothing to do with his gun legislation. In my opinion, there are much more important matters at hand today that need our attention.

I am pro private gun ownership, but I am ALSO pro more gun regulation. I might be called a "liberal redneck" as far as my opinions on firearms go. I like having a gun to go shoot beer bottles off a fence, but I think the idea of having a concealed carry permit for self protection is ludicrous. I don't really feel like going into my reasons right now.

[/POLITICAL RANT IN THE WRONG FORUM]

Yeah, this thread should probably have been in the politics forum, but it wasn't. I had to respond anyway. Sorry, mods.

And Ruprex, I'm sorry if I've come off too harsh. I didn't mean my replies to be attacks. I just honestly think that article means very little. I also think most of the stuff that comes out of organizations like "America Votes" and "moveon.org" is complete crap. It's just a different color crap. I will always be pro private gun ownership. I just don't want the NRA trying to twist my mind like that.