If anyone wants to have a serious discussion on the Second amendment

celiaKitten said:
Anyone else notice that Ishmael always has the *real* statistics, the *real* facts, the *real* studies ... and that anyone who disagrees with him has the *fake* or *doctored* ones?

Just an observation.

And a good one it is!!!!!!!!! Those that have called me on it have been refered to the studies. Whereas most that have spouted statistics et al haven't backed them up.

If you don't believe something, hey, challenge it.

Ishmael
 
One of my pet peeves is when people expect you to believe something just because they've said it's so. I think one of the most important questions you can ask is "say's who?" In other words, "prove it."

Then of course you can take it a step further and ask "why?" What was their motivation? It's great to refer to studies and their offspring statistics, but most good statisticians can make the data support (or sound as if it supports) whatever side the study sponsors wish.
 
Hooray someone, er someplace, gets it

someplace said:
One of my pet peeves is when people expect you to believe something just because they've said it's so. I think one of the most important questions you can ask is "say's who?" In other words, "prove it."

Then of course you can take it a step further and ask "why?" What was their motivation? It's great to refer to studies and their offspring statistics, but most good statisticians can make the data support (or sound as if it supports) whatever side the study sponsors wish.

This is exactly what I was trying to say a few dozen posts ago.
NRA will sway resukts to their favor.
Gun Control Inc. will sway results in their favor.

the battle never ends.
 
The bottom line for me is once you do not have the individual ability to protect yourself , your property or your freedom than you are not truly free in any sense of the word. Freedom is dangerous, the world is a dangerous place. Absolute safety and true freedom cannot exist together. Governments who have absolute control, always starting out in the name of safety and prosperity abuse their citizens, it a a part of human nature. Its not only an individaul right to bear arms but a duty to those who love their freedom. Those who support gun control are basically those who are in fear, they want someone else to protect them and stick their heads in the sand because the world is a dangerous place and they cannot handle the responsibility of defending themselves . I call that cowardice....
 
I think hunting with guns is cowardly, also.

Try downing a deer with your bare hands, if you've got the balls.
 
I don't hunt..but i do shoot regularly and have a concealed weapons permit. Although I have no problem with those who hunt for food, I do think it is wrong to kill something for just a trophy or for the thrill of just killing whether its a gun, bow and arrow or with your hands. Deer are here for food for something like we all are. Life feeds on life. If i wish to hunt for food, it no difference than buying a hamburger. I am going to do it the most humane and efficient way I can and i will thank the deer and God for the sacrifice of his life I have been training in martial arts for 30 years, I have no doubts or reservations about killing a man with my bare hands if its justified in self defense....
 
phrodeau said:
I think hunting with guns is cowardly, also.

Try downing a deer with your bare hands, if you've got the balls.

Hey there, that's a mature, serious, comment about the second amendment. :rolleyes:

Ishmael
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Hmmm, but you fail to see all of History.

Originally posted by SadnonMage
...An AR-15 is not a hunting rifle and I am not, nor did I say at anytime that I support the owning of "assault weapons"...
Actually, the AR-15 would be quite a nice hunting rifle for relatively small game (excluding birds) simply as a result of the ballistics of the round, the relatively low recoil, the light weight and the reliability of operation in adverse environments.

Dr. Walter Williams has assembled a number of significant quotation from the men associated with the creation of our Federal government. Here is a link to them and a couple are cited below.

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/quotes/arms.html

"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive."
Noah Webster, An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution (Philadelphia 1787).
"Whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them; nor does it follow from this, that all promiscuously must go into actual service on every occasion. The mind that aims at a select militia, must be influenced by a truly anti-republican principle; and when we see many men disposed to practice upon it, whenever they can prevail, no wonder true republicans are for carefully guarding against it."
Richard Henry Lee, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788.
And here's one that is particularly salient.
" ... to disarm the people - that was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."
George Mason, 3 Elliot, Debates at 380
And then one from a rather unexpected proponent of this freedom, someone perhaps not considered as a conservative right wing extremist:
"Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms ... The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible."
Hubert H. Humphrey, Senator, Vice President, 22 October 1959
Originally posted by islandman
Your reply is lacking, your arguments ineffective....I question why a citizen would need a full auto....Please read carefully. I realize its hard for you.
Actually, his post is quite salient and to the point regarding defense of oneself. And based on the facts of history, there is far more often the need to protect oneself from tranny in government than against one's fellow man.

By your reasoning, I question why you need a television. It deals with the concept of rights. Try thinking, rationally and objectively, if that's not too much of a challenge.
Originally posted by Laurel
Uh, I'm a leftie, and I support ALL of the Bill of Rights.

Be careful how you swing that broad brush.
I really doubt that. I think you just hide behind that label because you don't want anyone to know you're a closet libertarian. :p :kiss: :rose:
Originally posted by islandman
Sorry for the hijack. I think the 2nd is outdated. I may not like it, but i'll defend it, right along with everything else in the Constitution.
Your major obstacle is you have no rational, reasoned basis for your argument in light of the founders ideas. The entire reason for explicitly enumerating this aspect of the citizen's rights was to provide the citizenry at large a defense against tyranny in government. We still have government and it becomes more abusive and intrusive daily (Patriot Act, IRS, DEA, Sherman Anti-Trust, Social Security, Medicare, et al). It is against such abuses that the founders sought to provide the citizens protection when those in government abandoned their respect for the Constitutional constraints on government as they have today.

The truth is, the United Stated Federal government established by the Constitution is the ONLY moral government ever established in the recorded history of mankind because it is the only government designed to respect and protect the rights of its citizens.

But if you are so convinced that the Constitution is outdated, you are certainly free to emigrate to a nation which has no such constitution. Or don't you have the courage of your convictions?
Originally posted by SadnonMage
OMG I'm gonna fall over from shock. Redwave is in agreement with me??
If that's the case, it merely further illustrates how intellectually and morally corrupt his arguments are because this is absolutely inconsistent with other advocacies of his, i. e., the negation of individual rights and freedoms; government running and controlling everything and everyone.
Originally posted by Laurel
...I do think we as citizens have the right to make sure that those of us who do have guns are trained in how to use them properly because an irresponsible person with a gun has the potential to infringe on MY liberty. Well-written and sensible gun safety laws, therefore, are in the interest of expanding liberty, not limiting it.

But I definitely read the Second Amendment as literally as the First.
Yes, indeed. You have such a great point here. Let's model it after the DMV which has done such a spectacularly marvelous job of making certain that all holders of a driver's license are competent to operate motor vehicles which can also seriously impinge on your liberties if misused or mishandled! After all, aren't al the drivers they train and license just absolutely marvelous drivers? Competent, courteous, skilled, attentive, accident free, et al? :D

And let's at the same time put the fox on watch over the henhouse.
Originally posted by sexy-girl
...yes its every persons devine right to own a gun and anyone that try's to suggest its not is as evil as someone trying to ban free speech

well why is it a devine right to own a gun ... you can't drive a unsafe car ... you can't own child porn ... there are many things you can't do if it infringes on someone else's devine right to be safe and free

now im not saying that people owning guns infringes on other citizens safety (although in my opinion it does) but people that automatically say because its in the bill of rights its impossible to have any kind of debate on it are as bad as the people that problem child said ... say that anyone who owns a gun is automatically a moron
First, rights are innate, not divine. They are based on the nature of man as a living, sentient, thinking being. Rights relate to freedom of choice and action. The only legitimate restriction on one's actions is that they respect the equal right of other men, i. e., they not violate their equal rights. This, in essence eliminates the use of force as a means of dealing with other and nothing else. IOW, no man may initiate force against another to obtain something. The initiation of force is the fundamental definition of criminal actions.

As such, there is no right to be safe as you put it. There can be no such guarantee in any reasonable context. Even in the most secure setting, you are still vulnerable to various calamities of nature. Remote as is the possibility, a meteor could strike the building in which you live or work and there is no reasonable, rational means of guaranteeing safety.

There are many in politics who would like you to believe that and using that irrational guise, they convince you to relinquish more and more of your freedoms to their discretion.

These are the people to fear, not to trust. These are those Ayn Rand termed second-handers, those who substitute for self-esteem some feeling of efficacy they derive from holding the power to dispose of the live and property of others.

The people who offer you security (safety) will never tell you the price is your freedom. And the more safety they offer, the higher the price in terms of your freedom.
Originally posted by sexy-girl
i think organizations like the NRA are infringing on peoples rights of free speech to have a fair and open discussion on gun control
On this irrational declaration, I challenge you to provide any reasoned support of your position.
Originally posted by sexy-girl
that part of my comment was slightly overboard i admit :)

but what i meant is the way the NRA and such organizations won't allow any kind of debate on gun control and their policy of not giving an inch because of the 2nd amendment...
So please explain how asking that the law be respected and enforced with respect to the second amendment infringes upon the first.

And as to the Supreme Court decision on Amendment II, they are wrong. The justices making this decision obviously ignored the very clear and lucid thoughts of those involved in the construction of the original Constitution and federal government.

Personally, I'll go with the judgment and ideas of the men in attendance at the Constitutional Convention rather than men who came generations later and may not possess the insight and perception of their predecessors. The founders were clear and not at all duplicitous in their ideas and the presentation of them.
Originally posted by LordLucan74
...In fact, it is for a "well regulated militia" that the Constitution of the US allows for gun ownership.

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.
In fact, rights are applicable only to an individual. There is no such thing as collective rights. Thus any right is to the individual citizen, hence, Amendment II is a guarantee of the citizen's right to keep and bear arms.
Originally posted by lobito
At age 18, you are also required by law to register at the post office or other agency for the military, SHOULD there ever again be a draft. Kind of outdated don't you think? If 18 year olds wanted anything to do with the military, I'd think they'd want to join either the Air Force, Army, Marines or Navy. Joining or not, the military is supposed to be a "right", not a requirement, "IF your country needs you".
This should never have existed as law because it implies state ownership of the lives of the citizenry which is blatantly in contradiction to the fundamental principles identified in the Declaration of Independence as the right to "... life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness ..." and the protection of which was the reason for the formulation of the Constitution (from the Preamble: secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America). That such laws ever existed is testimony to the corruption of our elected officials and their lack of understand or perhaps respect for our Constitution and the freedoms it is designed to protect.
Originally posted by lobito
It's already been established this "debate" is going no where but around in circles. You're opinions are right becasue they are YOURS. People in North America have the right to own them, because of the way the 2nd amendment is written, how ever outdated it is. People everywhere, even on the "olde island" are entitled to argue against the use or ownership of them. It's all in how you interpret the amendment. literally or figuratively.
Wrong here: my opinions as expressed are correct because they are based on and coincide with the men who actually created the document under discussion. To declare my opinions are only right because I hold them is to declare that the opinions of the founders are no more right than are mine. The opinions expressed here are those regarding the intent of the founders and they were explicit in their intent.
Originally posted by LordLucan74
If the people of the USA actually had a right to rebell at will or withdraw from the Fedral Union, then all President Abraham Lincoln did to preserve it by force were against the spirit of the constitution he claimed to be preserving. The Civil War is the ultimate debunking of the idea that Americans have the right to rebell or overthrow their government.

I would also point this out: under the Articles of Confederation (the first US Constitution) did not mention a right to have arms. If that was so important a right or the reason we left the Empire, then surely that might have merited at least a footnote.
You are right about the Civil War (misnomer, in fact). The states did have a right to secede from the Union and Lincoln's primary and major motive was to prevent that secession by force of arms in direct contravention to the Constitutional authority of his government.

And your conclusion is an irrational one. The fact that government (or other party) does something in violation of one's rights does not negate the right. Were that the case, the first murder would negate you right to life by the same line of reasoning.

And if you also recall, the Articles of Confederation created an impotent and ineffectual central government incapable of achieving its intended purpose. Hence, the Constitutional Convention whose original purpose was to revise the Articles.

It was only after the Convention was convened and embarked upon its chartered mission that it became painfully obvious that the revisions would needed to achieve the desired intent would be more tedious and demanding than to create an entirely new governmental structure.

The fault in your logic is that the men who created the document were right de facto because they were the creators of the document, i. e., it is the embodiment of their thoughts and ideas. That they explicitly stated that the freedom to own weapons including firearms was essential to the sustenance of the individual's freedom implicitly states the right to keep and bear arms applies to the individual citizen. They even went so far as to differentiate between the peaceable citizen and the criminal in some cases.

Thus, that they explicitly cited it as an individual right means that my coinciding opinion is also right.
Originally posted by Laurel
And a "surprising" number of Republicans don't support the First Amendment, especially when it comes to topics like pornography.

So what's your point? Why the snide partisan stuff?
I think the point is that those most prominent in the Democratic Party, the party's leadership, are gun control advocates whereas the rank and file Democrats are not.
Originally posted by Ishmael
...The NRA:

Is a single issue organization. This is true. But like the ACLU etc. it too is protected by the 1st ammendment. The NRA has also been behind many programs related to the elimnation of crime, and the incarceration of those that abuse their 2nd ammendment rights...
Criminals do not abuse their Amendment II rights. What they abuse or violate is the rights of others to life, property, etc. And because they are criminals, they demonstrate that they do not belong among free and peaceable men, thus a legitimate and proper government segregates them from society by imprisonment.
Originally posted by REDWAVE
... The Civil War, on the other hand, was the result of a slavemasters' revolt, in which the South attempted to break away so slavemasters could continue to violate the fundamental rights of others. (Including, BTW, the free speech rights of anti-slavery Southern whites-- they were hated worse than "niggers.") Revolution was clearly not justified in that case. In another case, it might be...
You really should be a bit better informed about your history if you want to cite it to support your argument. The Civil War (misnomer) began more over taxation than anything else. Slavery was only a minor part. Even Lincoln stated that his motive was to "save the union" and he was intent on that as a primary goal. He also stated that he would free some, all or no slaves if it would achieve that goal. So much for the nobility of Mr. Lincoln with regards to slavery.

In fact, there were numerous blacks who fought in the Confederate Army.
Originally posted by REDWAVE
Although I support the Second Amendment, one practical problem with it is that most of the guns in this country are owned by a relatively small number of people, who each own a lot of guns. These people are overwhelmingly rich old white men. Women, minorities, and poor and working class whites all need to arm themselves too!

I suspect here is where I part company with the right wing. :D
Your argument, as usual, is inane to insane. Rights have to do with choices. People are equally free to choose NOT to own firearms. Your parting company with the right wing begins when it reaches the point of thinking.
Originally posted by Problem Child
Not true. Gun ownership has averaged between approx. 45-50% of households saying thay owned "at least one firearm", from a Gallup survey conducted eveery year from 1959 to 1997...
C'mon, PC. Don't annoy him with facts. He don't need no steenkin' facts!
Originally posted by someplace
... It's great to refer to studies and their offspring statistics, but most good statisticians can make the data support (or sound as if it supports) whatever side the study sponsors wish.
Regarding firearms, one of the best books (More Guns, Less Crime by John R. Lott, Jr.) was written by an avowed anti-gun proponent. He admitted that the motivation of his writing was to debunk the idea that free possession of arms was beneficial for a society.

But as his research progressed, he found that his preconceived notion which he intended to prove was wrong. Fortunately, he possessed the integrity to complete and publish his work.

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/493636.html

Edited to correct typo and omitted word
 
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