Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran
Yes, it is, and that means I get to have my opinion too, hmm?
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I was trying to point out that there is more conversation here than "justification."
I come here to talk. With no research to back me up, I assume others do as well.
-----Added 14/1/2009 at 08 : 02 : 49-----
Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran
So. . .You do not claim to have a 2nd amendment right to bear arms?
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Nope. Never have. Once again, please stop pigeonholing me with the rest of the Branch Nutjobians here. I don't have a cool armband and I don't wear my sunglasses indoors. As far as I'm concerned, guns are a privilege in the US... a privilege I've totally indulged in like a fat kid left alone with a cookie jar. Mmm...
guns.
In my daft opinion, it's a privilege that is modified and tweaked and mutated by our upperclass' daycare mentality every dozen years or so, usually to restrict it more for "public safety" (Clinton) or weaken said restrictions to get votes (Bush). I have no illusions about government. Government's purpose is to maintain order. A lot of people in government like a job that requires minimal sweating and six figure tax-payer incomes.
I'm uneducated and bitter... so I don't care what the Constitution says or how the Supreme Court has ruled (rulings that swing like a pendulum every dozen years from due process to crime control 'n back). It's lofty bullshit to me until it has boots-on-the-ground application in Joe Monkeybrain's everyday life. Do I have the right to own guns? Sometimes and some kinds. Do I have the right to "bear" arms? Generally? Fuck no. Not outside my house or with a "concealed weapon permit" that has more restrictions than Mick Jagger's groupie sex body count. Only thing a concealed carry permit is good for is legal protection for keeping your gun in your car... sometimes. I've done a lot of research on where I can actually "bear" my right'd guns... and it's silly. Can't take it hiking, can't take it into a restaurant, can't take it near churches, schools, banks... wow, you'd swear that the government
issues concealed carry permits to people thinking
they're the criminals. Open carry is a "right" in some places... but it's also a great way to get cuffed and fingerprinted by your local police.
Rights are great and all... but every right has an endless fine-print listing of "BUTs" and "EXCEPT WHENs." tagged on the end that gets added every time another veneer-equipped suit takes office or terrorists attack. Guns have it the worst, I figure. Everybody likes to talk and read stuff and all those other Bill 'o Rights joys... but guns are controversial because terrorists (and racial minorities) use guns to kill white people and that's scary. How do we deal with fear? Give more power to the government to "keep us safe." I like the placebo effect here.
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I don't know... I've taken a few law classes and every PhD and lawyer I've spoken with has told me the same thing about our "rights" in the US of A:
"Law (and your rights) is whatever the court says it is... and as long as you believe you're free, they get what they want."
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When people have to ask you to explain your point over and over again... it might be because they're dummies... or it might be because you need to rethink the presentation.