If you ask the typical hyper-political gun owner (and I have ... at Thanksgiving dinner), why its important to own a gun, theyll bark about the Constitution. Yes, the Second Amendment: The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed! <\/p>\n
This of course is the slogan the National Rifle Association adopted in the 1970s. It was then that owning a gun became an absolute right endowed by God and the Constitution. A blessing passed down by our forefathers to obliterate game and protect our property. The NRA was founded in 1870 and for its first hundred years it was for gun control and didnt mention the Second Amendment as their cause. <\/p>\n
Adam Winkler points out in his delicious book, Gun Fight, what we call the wild west had some of the strictest gun control laws weve seen as a nation. The shootout at the OK Corral took place, after all, because Wyatt Earp was trying to disarm the outlaw Cowboys in accordance with a Tombstone ordinance. The KKK was, among other things, a gun control organization. They were trying to keep guns out of the hands of newly freed slaves ... but still gun control. <\/p>\n
The part of the Second Amendment omitted from the NRAs slogan is: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State... Yes, well regulated its in the Constitution! <\/p>\n
Now, to some, guns are as sacred as scripture. If you ask, again, this typical hyper-political gun owner why they need to stockpile assault rifles, you will get an answer much like Pat Flynns, a recent candidate for a Senate seat in Nebraska. Really, we have our guns to protect ourselves against the government, number one, Flynn said in a debate right before the primary. Huntings number two. But protecting us against our government is number one. Remember, Flynn was trying to land a job in the government (he didnt win his partys nomination, by the way). <\/p>\n
The idea is that we have to be just as armed as our government in order to be safer or have more liberty (or something). The U.S. government has unmanned drones armed with supersonic laser-guided anti-armor Hellfire missiles, bunker busters, and nuclear weapons. Are far-right politicians saying we need civilians to have shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles for protection? Of course theyre not. They actually do want limits on ownership. <\/p>\n
And if you ask the most vehement gun rights advocate why gun owners shouldnt have nuclear weapons, Id bet youd get the same answer as to why we dont want every country to have the capability: Because they could get into the wrong hands. <\/p>\n
So weapons-grade plutonium should be limited. But the ever-handy semi-auto Glock pistol with a 30-round high-capacity magazine is an absolute right? <\/p>\n
A recent gun buyback drive in Los Angeles resulted in someone turning in a rocket launcher. Comforting. <\/p>\n
So were not actually talking about limited vs. unlimited. We are talking about degrees of weapon ownership. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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