The 2nd amendment

[Jazzy]

How do you feel about the 2nd amendment?

 

[Joshua1Eight]

Seems to me that it’s saying that whatever the military carries in their arms, the people have the right to carry in their arms.

 

[MoreCoffee]

How do you feel about the 2nd amendment?

It was a mistake.

 

[Lamb]

It protects us from a government that could try to take control of us to the extreme.

 

[tango]

I think if you believe in basic human rights you must support the 2nd amendment.

In the UK they have this crazy idea that humans have the right to life, And yet at the same time you don't have an automatic right to meaningfully protect your life. If you get attacked by some idiot in the street, or by a dog, chances are your only option is hope it doesn't hurt too much because you're not allowed to carry anything that might be useful to protect yourself.

A right is worthless unless you are allowed to protect it for yourself. People say that you can call the police, but the police aren't everywhere at once and criminals have a tendency to wait until the police aren't there to commit their crimes.

 

[Josiah]

I think in the USA, we have a somewhat unique view of this topic....


The milieu: Of course, when the Constitution was written, every American male 8 years old and up had a gun. At least one. And this was important for hunting, for protection (there was very little law enforcement for MANY years after this), and from the government. Yeah, the only reason Americans could fight the Revolutionary War at all was because every American male 8 years old and over had a gun - and knew how to use it (usually very well). And he made his own bullets. ADD TO THIS that Americans have a somewhat "different" view of government: it's seen as a necessary evil, something to always be suspicious of, something that will take away your rights (and pretty much everything else) if they can. Perhaps an odd attitude given such an emphasis on democracy and representative government but yeah, the two views live side-by-side: Government is us AND it's something to fear and defended yourself from.

Given that milieu, the issue is just different in the USA. Even if they don't own a gun (I've never even TOUCHED one!) Americans see a basic civil right here..... and it has little to do with hunting. The right to protect oneself from evil people and evil government. Those who would take from you and deprive you. A way to stay free.

But I don't think any see this as an absolute. SOME regulation is acceptable (no one wants murderers or the insane to have a gun) but how much is highly, highly controversal. Many will point out that back in the day when all boys had a gun - when there were shooting clubs at all high schools (and students brought their guns to class), when everyone had a gun - there were no mass shootings and few murders. And in those states with the LEAST controls (Montana, Utah, etc.) mass shooting and gun violence is rare.... and where controls are the greatest (Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit) it's at the highest.... MAYBE guns aren't the problem but PEOPLE and their values/morality. I think that view has a lot to support it.


Blessings on your New Year


- Josiah




.This dot is dedicated to my good friend, MoreCoffee

 

[Albion]

Your post got me thinking and so I tried looking up some of the statistics. What I found was that the usual sources carried on the leading search engines didn't actually give much clear-cut information, and while I did find some of what I was looking for later on, the info is all over the map, so to speak.

There are gun DEATH stats, but also gun violence, MASS shootings or killings by city, PER CAPITA shootings or deaths, cities whose stats are TRENDING upwards faster than others, and so on.

Some cities seem to stand out--Memphis, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, the Bay area of California, and several cities in Alabama (!), for instance--but it depends on which scale is being used, and that in turn probably contributes to the contradictory claims being made by the different political action groups.

 

[tango]

And in those states with the LEAST controls (Montana, Utah, etc.) mass shooting and gun violence is rare.... and where controls are the greatest (Washington DC, Chicago, Detroit) it's at the highest.... MAYBE guns aren't the problem but PEOPLE and their values/morality. I think that view has a lot to support it.

It's often said that if guns made a society dangerous then Switzerland would be a bloodbath. It's also said that if guns made a society safe then South Africa would be a utopia.

Some say that guns kill people. My gun hasn't killed anyone - I set it on the dresser several days ago and it hasn't made any moves to kill anyone. It requires someone to pick it up, point it, and pull the trigger. It's an inanimate object. Of course it's easier to kill someone with a gun than with, say, a bologna sandwich but if you don't go out with intentions to harm someone the chances are you're not going to do any more damage with a gun than you would with a bologna sandwich.

It's almost as if it does take a person to kill another person. Maybe we should reword Scripture to refer to the "assault rock" used in the first ever murder.

 

[Jason76]

I'm all for it, but as a devil's advocate, I think guns can make some people arrogant. It's like someone immune from getting beat up, lol.

Well, this is another philosophical topic.