Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the Navy Yard murders. Calling it merely a "shooting" serves to focus on the tool while mitigating the evil intent of the murderer.
To mark the anniversary, President Obama released the following short statement:
One year ago, our dedicated military and civilian personnel at the Washington Navy Yard were targeted in an unspeakable act of violence that took the lives of 12 American patriots. As we remember men and women taken from us so senselessly, we keep close their family and friends, stand with the survivors who continue to heal and pay tribute to the first responders who acted with skill and bravery. At the same time, we continue to improve security at our country’s bases and installations to protect our military and civilian personnel who help keep us safe. One year ago, 12 Americans went to work to protect and strengthen the country they loved. Today, we must do the same – rejecting atrocities like these as the new normal and renewing our call for common-sense reforms that respect our traditions while reducing the gun violence that shatters too many American families every day.First, let me point out, that keeping our military bases and installations gun-free zones protect no one. They only serve to provide an easier working environment for deranged psychopaths.
Next, using the anniversary of the murders of Navy personnel to call for more gun control - "common-sense reforms" - is nothing more than blood dancing. Just like the children murdered at the school in Newtown, the 12 civilian personnel who died appear to be nothing more than debating points to be used by the White House in its quest for more and more gun control.
Finally, the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms is not a tradition. It is a Constitutional amendment that recognized a pre-existing civil right. And as the Supreme Court affirmed in the Heller decision, it is an individual right. Saying that you want to "respect our traditions" conjures up the image of men and boys in a deer camp clad in red and black plaid wool coats and toting Winchester 94s and Marlin 336s. To refer to it as a tradition denigrates what are essential civil and human rights - the right to self-defense and the right to overthrow a tyrannical government. The right to keep and bear arms helps to assure both of those rights.
Precisely.
ReplyDeleteFudds begone.
It ain't about Bambi.
Right on.
ReplyDeleteWell said... And people who worked there are NOT happy with his hijacking of the date... Trust me...
ReplyDeleteWhy is it we never saw any of the following: Interviews with family members of theose who were "killed"; funerals of those "killed"; law suits against the facility?
DeleteNo, the Second Amendment is the God-given right to self-defense. A "civil" right, like voting, is a privilege granted by government.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of "civil rights" does not apply to individuals. The right to defend oneself, and by extension the right to carry a firearm, is a human right, not a civil right. Every human carries with him the right of self defense, whether expressed in law or not. "Civil" would imply the right is granted by law. No law can grant any right. Rights are things that one carries with one by virtue of being human. Government can only grant privileges, not rights. So, Mr Richardson, no the right to keep and bear arms is not a civil right. It is a human right. Civil rights don't exist, but civil privileges do and they can be withdrawn by government. The right of self defense is a human right, delineated and expressed by the 2nd Amendment. But degrading the right of self defense to what one calls a civil right would recognize that government may retract that right. It may not, so do not refer to the right to keep and bear arms as a civil right. The right of self defense, and by extension the right to keep and bear arms, is a human right, whether granted by law or not.
ReplyDeleteThe first responder to any violent crime is the victim. We need our first responders to have the training and tools necessary to stop violent crime quickly.
ReplyDeleteSelf defense is a human right. 2A covers the idea of self defense and other lawful purposes for owning a gun. So, I prefer to think of 2A as a super set of self defense.