03-05-2018, 11:11 PM
Maybe it's just me, but it looks like about 5 pages of this thread have been devoted to proposing things Stan didn't say, and then Stan pointing out he didn't say that.
The original question was "Why do you need an AR-15?" The most common answer seems to be "because the Constitution (2nd amendment) gives me the right to defend myself".
I think Stan is correct in saying the 2A doesn't give you that right. Laws that have been passed by Congress and upheld by courts do. In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban and I believe it was upheld in court. Thankfully, the law expired on a sunset provision. How many elections were key to that law not being extended? How many more election cycles will be necessary to see a similar law passed? If passed by Congress and signed by the president, such a bill will become the law of the land and we will all change from being law abiding gun owners to potential convicted felons.
Hopefully then, our cases will go to the Supreme Court to have our inalienable right reinstated. But what if Justice Scalia had passed away a couple years earlier? I suspect there would have been a justice much closer to Ginsberg than to Gorsuch sitting on the bench and ruling on that case, and we would then remain in federal prison, inalienable rights notwithstanding.
I have to say that a forum such as this (or Facebook, emails, or text messages) is a really crappy place to have a meaningful, philosophical discussion. I for one, would love the opportunity to meet Stan and have a real conversation with him. But in the meantime, we need to make our views known to our Senators and representatives and pay attention to upcoming elections.
The original question was "Why do you need an AR-15?" The most common answer seems to be "because the Constitution (2nd amendment) gives me the right to defend myself".
I think Stan is correct in saying the 2A doesn't give you that right. Laws that have been passed by Congress and upheld by courts do. In 1994, Congress passed an assault weapons ban and I believe it was upheld in court. Thankfully, the law expired on a sunset provision. How many elections were key to that law not being extended? How many more election cycles will be necessary to see a similar law passed? If passed by Congress and signed by the president, such a bill will become the law of the land and we will all change from being law abiding gun owners to potential convicted felons.
Hopefully then, our cases will go to the Supreme Court to have our inalienable right reinstated. But what if Justice Scalia had passed away a couple years earlier? I suspect there would have been a justice much closer to Ginsberg than to Gorsuch sitting on the bench and ruling on that case, and we would then remain in federal prison, inalienable rights notwithstanding.
I have to say that a forum such as this (or Facebook, emails, or text messages) is a really crappy place to have a meaningful, philosophical discussion. I for one, would love the opportunity to meet Stan and have a real conversation with him. But in the meantime, we need to make our views known to our Senators and representatives and pay attention to upcoming elections.