Ron Paul discusses machine guns with Newsweek

[publius42]

http://www.newsweek.com/id/73850

I was quite disappointed. I expected the reporter to act as if privately owned machine guns don't exist and are a lunatic idea, but then Ron Paul acted the same way and tried to change the subject! He did wind up saying that if some hobbyist wants a machine gun he doesn't have a problem with it, but that's pretty weak, IMHO.

It was a great opportunity to point out that there are thousands of LEGAL privately owned machine guns in America today and then ask the reporter when he last heard of one of them being used in a crime.

It was also a great opportunity to point out that the ban on post 1986 machine guns will wind up being a complete ban over time, as all of the existing guns break or are otherwise lost. Meanwhile, their status makes them only playthings for the wealthier gun owners. It was a great opportunity to ask whether the reporter's assumption is that poor people would cause more trouble than rich people.

A slow pitch right over the plate, and Ron Paul got a base hit. Oh well, the rest would have fouled out, so I'll still donate to Ron Paul on December 16th.

 

[Unregistered]

Ron Paul is not perfect. Nobody ever said he was. Still, I dont think Obama or Giuliani or Romney are likely to even allow "hobbyists" to have full autos if they had a choice.

 

[Fremmer]

He was being smart. I understand you're disappointed that that he didn't respond they way you wanted, but I think that he expressed a reasonable, non-extreme pro-second position. It was interesting that he seemed to recognize a limit to the second amendment right to keep and bear arms; I agree with him about a neighbor not being entitled to build a bomb.

It's hard to run for President, and Ron Paul came accross as pretty reasonable in that video IMHO.

 

[publius42]

You're right that his answer was politically palatable to the great numbers of people in this country who are unaware of the rules for private ownership of machine guns.

I guess Ron Paul thinks about his campaign in a different way than I do. I never figured he would make it this far, never figured he would have money to spend, never figured he would get anywhere at all, really. With each passing day, I'm astonished and glad that he is still in the race at all, getting out his message, especially to young people.

I guess to me the message is more important than the campaign, since I never figured the campaign could succeed. I think Ron Paul is playing to WIN!

 

[publius42]

According to guncite, with almost a quarter million legal privately owned machine guns in the USA, we have seen a whopping TWO, count 'em TWO, homicides using machine guns.

 

[Fremmer]

Point well taken, Pub. But when you're running for President, you have to frame your public views carefully. Paul emphasized that he didn't want criminals to have guns, and that is a clear (and very logical) message. He emphasized that he wanted it to be a matter for each State, and that the State would have to have a proper search warrant before enforcing the law.

IMHO, he did very well. It's the most impressive Paul interview I've seen yet.

 

[MyGunsJammed]

Good article,


I'm definately registering to vote for the best pro 2nd amendment candidate

 

[crashm1]

Fremmer

Are you okay? That sounded RP positive.

 

[publius42]

OT Ron Paul positive... The blimp launched today!

 

[fspic]

Allowing for Jefferson's religious views (which were not egg-zackley mainline) his statement is false at one end and out of any nuanced interpretation at the other. All law in the western world came exactly from Christianity except in that proto-Christianity was presented in the form of the Jewish religion first. Unlike the particular version of Christianity (the established Anglican church of Jefferson's time) there was no single established church for the nation but there certainly were four state religions established into the early 1800's.

Likewise, any impression coming from Christianity (of the Protestant form which largely founded this nation), came from a Bible far removed from man-made religions like the Islamic with its Sharia law or the then-current application of the Law as practiced by 18th century Jews in much of the world. Christianity is the exclusive difference for the highest economic or social conditions which exist in the Western world and is the medicine which is used to purge slavery and many other evils. In a smaller way it can also be used to lead people astray but at the risk of conflict with pious believers.