“A well regulated Militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
This was ratified in 1791 and then in 1792 President George Washington signed into law the Militia Act of 1792 of which the 2nd amendment was required, to give the Federal Government the right to enact.
http://www.constitution.org/mil/mil_act_1792.htm
So logically, this means that the 2nd wasn’t conceived or written with the intent of allowing the people to rebel against the government of the United States, but rather to give the government of the United States the ability to call upon a “well regulated” and armed militia to defend a “free state.”
Few people understand or even know this history of our nation because the NRA and those who advocate for gun manufacturers, state that “gun rights” are supreme over everything. Because of the NRA, most think that the 2nd amendment only says “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” After all, who has time to even consider why that conditional statement appears in this short, one sentence amendment?
Those who advocate guns over everything else don’t want people considering or even talking about the 2nd. Its heresy to not believe it as told to the people by their preachers. There shall be no debate over this matter in this country despite what the 1st amendment says.
“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Even though the 1st amendment is twice as long as the 2nd, if you are a worshipper of the gun, you have no right to sway from the religion of the gun, you have no right to not worship the gun, speak against the worship of the gun, write against the worship of the gun and the people cannot assemble or petition the Government to redress grievances involving issues with the gun. Gun rights rule supreme, in their minds.
Hyperbole? Not really.
Both Keene and LaPierre of the NRA have made it clear to Congress that they are not to enact any laws designed to better regulate gun safety laws in this nation.
They do not want any laws enacted that would require full background checks and waiting periods for all gun sales.
They do not want any laws banning future manufacture or sales of high-capacity magazine or military style assault weapons.
They do not want the Center for Disease Control to gather any data regarding gun violence for analysis and research.
They do not want a national database created to register and monitor guns in this country or those suffering from mental health disorders to be entered for reference in a background check.
In short, they want Congress to ignore what the majority of the nation wants. They have gone so far as to say the there aren’t enough votes in Congress to address any of these issues. Is it because they own Congress?
As for free speech, they have been very successful in silencing those who advocate gun safety actions for decades. With the horrible events in Newtown, as people began to express their outrage and demand for gun safety actions, they have been working to silence those people in their use of social media, especially Twitter.
After Sandy Hook, many on Twitter posted comments demanding gun safety regulations be imposed only to suddenly find themselves being suspended from Twitter. It was later determined that pro-gun right advocates were getting together to complain to Twitter en masse, that these people were abusing Twitter, resulting in their suspension. I was one of many who ended up having this happen on Twitter.
Now this has reached the level of the ridiculous. A conservative activist name Todd Kincannon has formed a group called “Twitter Gulag Defense Network”. #TGDN was advertised as a means to protect “conservatives” from “liberal trolls” who they say were getting conservative twitter accounts suspended for abusing the system. If that is what was happening, and that was their intent, Bravo! However, the facts don’t jive.
In reality, conservatives tend to insert themselves into the timelines of those they don’t agree with and will insult, berate and ridicule them in their timeline. As a result, complaints were being made and the conservatives ended up being suspended. It’s like arsonists complaining to the property owner about getting burned.
What ended up happening was that conservative nut jobs all hooked up in one place, like a bizarro “team followback”. Thousands of like-minded, fringed right-wing, extreme haters, were all hanging around sniffing each other’s asses looking for mischief. With TGDN, these people ended up organizing to purposefully taunt those; especially those tweeting for gun safety laws, by replying to their posts with some form of insult. Once that person responds, they get together via DM (Direct Messaging) and “spam block” them, resulting in the injured party getting suspended. Kincannon has actually explained to his followers how to set up back-up Twitter accounts to fall back on if they are suspended while they work to suspend other accounts.
http://twitchy.com/2013/01/06/tgdn-hashtag-to-power-grassroots-set-up-twitter-gulag-defense-network/
Karoli has information regarding Todd Kincannon, as she has written in Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/breitbots-gulags-and-free-speech
On Sunday, January 13, 2012 many of my friends were part of a “Twitter bomb” to set up a hashtag for trending; #DoItForGabby, with comments about gun safety laws. It was successful and many tweeted comments for gun safety laws to be enacted. Sure enough, many who ascribe to #TGDN responded to their timelines with insults and hyperbole, hoping for a response. Those who did, ended up being suspended from Twitter; those like me who simply ignored and blocked them, had no problems.
Most issues always have at least two sides. In our form of government and under the first amendment, people should feel free to express their views. That is the way it has always been. People can then hear both sides of the issues, weigh each side, consider both positions and decide where they want to be. We even allow Nazi groups to be heard in public, we do so to let them be heard and let people decide what kind of people they are.
Now consider, if one side has little or nothing to support their views of the issue, what choice do they have? Well, silence those on the other side from being heard. By the NRA being the only ones being heard, their side will always be accepted. This is the foundation of propaganda and censorship. Only this time it’s being perpetrated by corporate interests, not government.
I’m an example why they don’t want both sides of any issues being heard. For those who don’t know me, I was a Republican. I had conservative views (still do on some issues); I was drinking the Kool-aid. However, I also believe in the continuous acquisition of knowledge and reassessment of the world around us. As the party changed and moved further right, the more I looked to the other side of the argument and realized it made far more sense than what I had been told and what I felt comfortable with. So I grew and I changed.
They now call me a liberal. And I say, “thanks”.
They aren’t getting away with it this time. Even mainstream media is starting to get the word out that is contrary to the corporate narrative, that maybe we don’t need guns; maybe more guns DO equal more violence. Certainly the polling is clear, 74% of the nation, including gun owners, agree more laws need to be enacted. It’s only that small, angry and loud minority that says otherwise. They hope to silence the voice of the majority who do not agree with them and are being unsuccessful in this endeavor.
If you don’t agree with someone, you can either listen to what they say, try to convince them otherwise or simply ignore them. In this country you do not have the right to silence them because the 2nd amendment is not more important or more powerful than the 1st amendment. I’ve heard all I need to hear from the right-wing gun worshippers and don’t need to hear anymore. They are completely unwilling to even consider anything outside their narrative regardless of reason. So I’m ignoring and blocking them.
If they don’t like what I’m saying, they can ignore me, but they can’t silence me, and I won’t try to silence them. Let them be heard and let all the people decide which side has the more appropriate position to the gun issue. Congress needs to hear both sides and decide what’s in the public interest. If they want to impose what’s in the corporate interest, then they need to explain to the people why. Then we can decide what we think about their choice in 2014.
If you are on Twitter, this is the advice I have for you. If taunted by someone who has a bio of being a “conservative” especially aligned with #TGDN, who reply to you with any angry, insulting, or simply stupid remark, just ignore and block them. Do not reply to them. Stay active, keep posting and continue to spread to good word.
AZModerate Rants 