Minicreatures
New member
Originally posted by slah
Originally posted by airhead
Then you heard wrong.Originally posted by Niall
...I am sure that I heard that \'right to bear arms\' was only created when the American settlers wanted to create their own nation, so they needed a fast militia to hold off the British troops. It was never intended to last forever
That amendment was #2, only behind #1 Freedom of Speech. It was placed there for a reason; so that the government knew it\'s place.
the reason it placed in the constitution all those years ago is for all intents and purposes completely irrelevant. Every law should be viewed on it´s merits based on the society as it is right now. No people could have predicted todays society back when the constitution was written, so reasons stated at that time are void and without meaning (at least in my opinion). Following this, and the fact that armed uprising against the state is not a realistic option in todays America (again - in my opinion) there really is no valid reason for such easy access to guns.
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We don\'t have to have a reason to own guns. Hunting is not mentioned in the second amendment.Originally posted by Farin
...still i believe in restricting gun ownership. Of cause , If someone has the necessary licence / permit and therefor proven that he is a responsible citizen AND has a reason for owning firearms other than some strange conspiracy theory, like say hunting , than he has any right to have one - i just don´t think it should be possibly to have such an easy access to automatic fire arms and assault weapons as in some States of the US.
As to automatic weapons (an assault weapon is full auto by definition, contrary to what the press and Brady crowd would have you believe), they are not easy to come by, you have to go through a very thorough screening by the BATFE and pay a hefty premium (yearly) to own one.
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The funniest part of this whole thread is the number of people from other countries that feel the need to tell citizens of the U.S. how our health care should be formed and how our gun laws ought to be changed. Don\'t get me wrong, I don\'t mind looking at alternatives, but our system has worked for 100 years and all of a sudden this power monger says we have to change it \"right now\" or it will fall apart. Hell, it took him 6 months to pick a \"first dog.\" Shouldn\'t we take more than 2 weeks to look over a massive society changing bill before we vote on it?
I´ll admit that I have no idea of the inner workings of proposed health care changes in America, and as such have no idea whether or not it is a good idea.I do agree with you that if it really is a MASSIVE reconfiguring of the current system there should be time to look it over closely before voting on it.
However just because I´m a foreigner I do have an opinion on whether or not people owning guns are a good idea or not.
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That´s too easy. Put strung out crackhead armed with a loaded handgun instead of rapist and a sign that says \"how do you like our gun-control laws\", and check how people respond instead
Confucius said \"The first rule of politics is to use the language precisely. Otherwise, nobody understands anybody else, and everything falls into chaos.\"
The Bill of Rights is not irrelevant, and neither is owning a gun. The draftsmen were trying to see and prepare as far into the future as possible when they prepared those documents. They spent a long time making sure that the wording itself could not be misconstrued or bent to weaken the rights of the people, which they fought so hard for. It\'s a control issue. If you are ok with being controlled and at the mercy of whomever is in power of your land at the time, great. But that\'s on you, as well as the consequences of that thinking. It seems a bit flippant and short sighted to not look to the future, or assume that the creators of a governing document would only intend it last for a few years...
As a side note, is it true that \'Big Brother\' is as bad as it seems in England? I truly hope not.
As for the crack dealer situation (who is not in his right mind and has an illegal gun), you better bet your tookus I\'m going to want a gun as well to defend myself. Self reliance should not be looked down on. If the crazies of society are going to have guns anyway, I want to be able to protect myself if that situation should arise, instead of being helpless and waiting for the cops to show up (usually arriving after the fact when I would be corpse looted in a pool of my own blood). I want someone to think twice before thinking its ok to attack me.
Also this discussion is reminding me of something my friends and I were talking about the other night. We were talking about Margaret Mead and Robert Anton Wilson, and how patriarchal societies historically always end up stomping out through brute force the matriarchal societies which tend to be more peaceful. It\'s sad sure but then again being a victim sucks horribly. I\'d rather be a strong arm than a helpless babe. I have a choice still to be armed if I wish and I am going to use it. If I am attacked by some crazy pants who is threatening my life and existence, I will not go down without a fight.