Guinevere wrote:Driving a car is a privilege, not a right. It is long past time that owning guns be a privilege too.
MajGenl.Meade wrote:That may be so, Guin. But thus far, owning guns is a right and I doubt that will change (much).
As I have repeatedly said, the point is
exactly to change it. By now, the entire fucking country should be so fucking sick and fucking tired of fucking gun crimes to finally get up on their fucking hind legs and shout
E-FUCKING-NOUGH!!!!!
Yes, in fact, I DO want to take away your fucking guns. All of them. As far as I am concerned, if you want to go out and try to mass murder people with rocks or whatever, fine, but I'm not going to let you have a fucking gun to do it, let lone a gun that can mow down dozens of people in a minute of mayhem. But I am perfectly capable of recognizing that my own personal view of NO FUCKING GUNS -- no matter how rational -- is not necessarily going to work for everyone in this stupid fucking country.
So like I keep saying, using my fucking inside voice despite my fucking rage, the Second Amendment is an anachronism that has long outlived whatever use it may have had. There is absolutely NO rational public policy justification for enshrining gun ownership as a constitutional right. The constitution is not the sacred Word of God, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with changing it in light of a world that has changed to replace muskets with semi- or fully automatic weapons. Especially since the Second Amendment, as the fundamental obstacle to effective gun control, is directly responsible for the fucked up gun policy we are forced to live with.
Repeal of the Second Amendment (unfortunately) DOESN'T mean that all guns will be outlawed. All it means is that federal, state and local governments would be able to regulate ownership, type and use of firearms without fear of constitutional infraction. State and local governments could implement the type of regulations that are appropriate for their particular areas and populations. If my city wants to severely restrict or even outlaw handguns because they are routinely used in crime here, why shouldn't we be permitted to do so? I understand that there are legitimate reasons for gun ownership -- even handguns -- but that doesn't require a blanket constitutional "right" to ownership.
There is nothing wrong with making gun ownership a licensed privilege rather than a right. Nobody needs a fucking right to a fucking gun.
If I sound angry and disgusted, it is because I am.