[sarcasm on]Yes, yes it is. Why it’s hard to believe that us fringe right gun enthusiasts, who demand that every 5 year old should have a gun, seems to have such nuanced understanding of the American legal system. It’s almost as if many gun owners aren’t the bubba hillbilly rednecks or mall ninjas whose only argument is “shall not be infringed” that we are portrayed as and really are. Why, next thing you know we will talk crazy stuff like it’s a freedom of speech to burn a flag or kneel during the national anthem, because we all know that the only constitutional amendment that really matters is the second. Heaven forbid we have rational conversations about public policy and the rule of law.[sarcasm off]
PTac not trying to insult you bud. It’s just that some people here like their Glock pistol, but denounce the NRA as extremist (the very organization that they can thank for that pistol not being covered under the NFA, btw), along with refusing to believe that many hard core 2A advocates are quite moderate on other political issues and don’t simply vote R blindly. And yes, sometimes I want to be sarcastic.
5whiskey, I appreciate your humor, and I likewise resent the stereotype that all gun owners (and advocates of gun rights) are pickup-truck-drivin', Bible-thumpin', right-wing-votin' rednecks. No offense to rednecks (I love 'Skynyrd, after all), but it ain't necessarily so -- I mean, I have a master's degree, I don't subscribe to religion, and I drive German cars. I also happen to have a house full o' cool guns.
But here's the problem. Those stereotypes hold true more than they should, especially the part about only believing the Second Amendment applies. I've worked in some conservative environments (a shipyard and a nuclear-power plant), and these kinda values were the norm:
• The Bible and Christianity should be taught as fact in public schools.
• School children should be forced to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and salute the flag.
• This is a Christian nation.
• Anti-war protesters should be arrested.
• Those who disrespect or desecrate the national flag (without regard to whose property the flag is) should be imprisoned.
• Pornography should be banned.
• The news media should be subject to prior restraint.
• Gun rights are absolute.
• Anyone who doesn't consent to a search by police "has something to hide."
• If you don't know or understand your legal rights, that's your damn problem.
• Protections against unwarranted searches and self-incrimination "only protect criminals."
• Those convicted of capital crimes should be summarily executed, as due process wastes time and money.
I am not exaggerating. These people are among us; go to the right place, and they're actually in the majority. (And I hang out with my share of left-wingers these days, people who think, for instance, that disclosure of one's tax returns is a matter of politics rather than privacy; this rant can easily go both ways.)
Call me crazy, but I embrace the entire Bill of Rights, plus the 14th Amendment, plus those rights sprinkled throughout the body of the Constitution (such as protections against bills of attainders or
ex post facto legislation, the requirement of
writs of habeas corpus, and the general theme of personal privacy). That said, people who claim to "uphold the Constitution" while casually cherry-picking its content are a very real segment of our population.