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| -Land of the Free | ||
| E.J. Dionne: The Gun Supremacists' Folly | ||
| 2014-04-29 | ||
| WaPo's E.J. Dionne demonstrates why the gun control lobby is headed to the ash heap of history... Have we gone stark raving mad? Who's this 'we'... The question is brought to mind by the new gun law signed last week in Georgia by Gov. Nathan Deal. You might have thought that since the United States couldn't possibly have more permissive firearms laws than it does now, nothing more could be done to coddle the gun lobby and tip the balance of our statutes away from law enforcement. Alas, you would be wrong. If you check, gun laws being passed are undoing restrictive gun laws in the past. But you didn't... The creativity of the National Rifle Association and other organizations devoted to establishing conditions in which every man, woman and child in our nation will have to be armed is awe inspiring. Where imagination is concerned, the best absurdist artists and writers have nothing on the NRA. No wonder Stephen Colbert has decided to move on from the realm of satire. When parody becomes reality, the challenges facing even a comedian of his talents can become insurmountable. Dionne forgets the NRA is supported by many millions of dues-paying members and a lot of others who do not pay but support the cause of liberty. Those folks do not want to be shackled from buying, owning and carrying a firearm. And the fact is that gun control by its very definition is parody. The NRA was formed because Democrats were passing restrictive gun laws. In the 1870s. In the South. To disarm blacks who were standing up for themselves against the KKK. I can't understand why Mr. Dionne didn't mention that... You might not have thought that the inability of people to pack while praying was a big problem. Georgia's political leaders think otherwise, so the new law allows people to carry guns in their houses of worship. True, congregations can set their own rules, but some pastors wonder about the confusion this provision will create, and those who would keep their sanctuaries gun-free may worry about being branded as liberal elitists. Maybe the Georgia Legislature will help them by requiring a rewrite of the Scriptures. "Blessed are the peacemakers" can become "Blessed are the gun owners." Peace can't be made by firing up the bong and getting into casual conversations with armed and hostile enemies, E.J. It is made by individuals who are armed and who are prepared to use them. You will also be able to tote weapons into bars and their parking facilities if the bar grants you permission. I can't wait to see the next beer ad depicting a gunfight over who pays for the next round. Dionne's idea of sarcasm... Georgia thinks you should be able to take guns into government buildings that don't have screening devices or security guards. Second Amendment enthusiasts tend not to like tax increases, but as The Associated Press reported, the city of Vienna, Ga., (pop. 3,841) would have to shell out about $60,000 a year to increase security at city buildings. "Do we raise taxes to provide the police protection or do we take the risk of potential injury to our public?" asked Mayor Pro Tem Beth English, who also is president of the Georgia Municipal Association. Too bad if this gun lobby subsidy comes out of the school budget. Oh yes, and while conservatives claim to hate the centralization of power, this law wipes out a series of local gun regulations. The gun supremacists just don't trust those pesky local elected officials. Conservatives know that centralization of some power, i.e. only those granted by the Constitution are baked into the Constitution itself. Those powers not expressed in the Constitution are granted to individuals and to the several states It's right there in black ink. People with a gun license who try to carry a weapon onto an airplane get a nice break under this bill. If they're caught with a gun at a security checkpoint, nothing happens as long as they leave the area. Try, try again. Watch out if you connect through Atlanta. Airport security, like our firearms laws in their present state are draconian and unnecessary. Georgia's law is a tiny step into undoing the civil liberties overreach by the federal government. And law and order goes out the window. As Niraj Chokshi noted in The Washington Post, this statute gets rid of state requirements that firearms dealers maintain records of sales and purchases. Databases on license holders that span multiple jurisdictions are banned. Those who commit gun crimes must be chuckling, "Can you find me now?" Good for Georgia. Requiring firearms dealers to keep records of purchases is de facto registration. Please note that Dionne thinks that every criminal will buy a gun through a firearms dealer, which is still required to conduct a federal background check for every purchase. That part of our national guns law have not, regrettably changed. Nothing better reveals the utter irrationality of our politics for the whole world to see than this madness about guns -- and no issue better demonstrates how deeply divided our nation is by region, ideology and party. Our politics are irrational because half the country thinks that imposing laws on the other half brings people together when in fact it just destroys individual liberties. The New York Times found that in the 12 months after the Sandy Hook shootings, 39 laws were enacted tightening gun restrictions; 25 were passed by state governments under full Democratic control. Seventy laws were passed loosening gun restrictions, 49 of them in Republican-controlled states. According to The Wall Street Journal, 21 states strengthened firearms restrictions in 2013, and 20 weakened them. Statistics, blah, blah, blah...
E.J. Dionne wouldn't know religious liberty if it flicked a booger at him. The program for the NRA's annual convention, held over the weekend in Indianapolis, listed sessions on "Survival Mindset: Are You Prepared?"; "Creating a Constitutionally Centered Estate Plan"; and "Refuse to be a Victim." Party on, guys. I can't wait for you to figure out the ways in which even Georgia's law is too liberal. In the meantime, the nation's unarmed majority might ponder how badly we have failed in asserting our own rights. Stop becoming an unarmed majority and start to be an armed majority. It's easy! Buy a gun!
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| Posted by:badanov |
| #5 "Then it will be too late." For him and his ilk, at least, no mo. For us normal people, not so much. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-04-29 18:17 |
| #4 Watch out if you connect through Atlanta. I hope EJ Dionne will remember...a Southern man don't need him around anyhow. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2014-04-29 16:04 |
| #3 Gun Supremacists? Jeez, E.J. What does that even mean? The gun supremacists just don't trust those pesky local elected officials. If you read the Constitution, old and crufty as it is, one of the big themes is governments can't be trusted with power. Federal governments, state governments, and yes, even local governments. They all tend towards greedy and grasping. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-04-29 15:37 |
| #2 the nation's unarmed majority might ponder how badly we have failed in asserting our own rights. The right to not buy a firearm is fully intact. I be ole EJ doesn't even realize that his statement defines the importance of 2A and why it was written into the BoR. Unarmed people cannot assert their rights. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who do not. |
| Posted by: Lowspark 2014-04-29 14:37 |
| #1 When the magic government paychecks stop being able to be cashed and the EBT cards no longer function - as must inevitably happen within the next decade - the heretofore peaceful people living a few blocks from Dionne and the rest of his fellow traveler urban leftist maggotry will take out their interrupted entitlement on the most proximal financially comfortable people they can find. Those would be NPR listening pseudointellectual leftists like Dionne and his fellow travelers. The cops will be busy defending themselves and not him. It's the real reason (not "compassion" or "fairness" or "justice") why people like him don't want the welfare state and the blue state model government - which pacify the giant public workforce and the welfare class with more money than they deserve - to end. "Those people" are safely pacified and Dionne and his ilk can have their tony safe urban playground where they can loftily deem as "untermensch" believers in Christianity or limited government. That he doesn't see the truth of this is - and that he doesn't understand the ultimate need he and his will have to defend themselves from the hordes up the block - is proof that the guy really isn't that bright after all. The laws making guns available will be fought, up to the point that the hordes are attacking. Then it will be too late. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2014-04-29 10:16 |