Category Archives: Keep and Bear Arms

2008 President candidates and the Second Amendment

General, Individual Rights, Keep and Bear Arms, Politics

Dave Kopel is giving a run down of 2008 Presidential contenders from both parties and their stance on the Second Amendment. Most of the results aren’t surprising:

Top tier. Nearly perfect pro-Second Amendment records: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.). Former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-Vir.). Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.).

Very good. Not a perfect record, but still a very positive one overall. Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.). Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.). Former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-Wisc.). Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).

Mixed: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)(mostly positive record, except for lead sponsorship of two terrible bills: McCain-Lieberman, a terribly-written bill which would have given the BATFE the authority to administratively eliminate any or all gun shows, and McCain-Feingold, the campaign speech restriction law which significantly affects right-to-arms groups).

Poor: Former Gov. George Pataki (R-N.Y.). Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.). As noted by, inter alia, the Boston Globe, Romney’s flip-flops on guns are part of a larger record of inconsistency.

Almost perfect anti-Second Amendment record: Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.). Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Former Vice-President Al Gore (in Congress, a nearly perfect pro-gun record until 1989, when he switched sides). Al Sharpton (D-N.Y.).

Record of anti-Second Amendment leadership: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.)(very effective in pushing gun control during his tenure as Judiciary Committee chairman). Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). Gov. Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa). Former Mayor Rudy Guliani (R-N.Y.)(even worse than his predecessor, Democrat David Dinkins; indeed, based on his record, arguably worse than Sen. Clinton).

Romney seems to be inconsistent on almost every issue. I’m a little surprised to see Huckabee’s name so far at the top. Not surprised to see Guiliani at the bottom. I would have though McCain would be given a worse rating, especially given his “F” from Gun Owners of America.

Jason Pye
http://jasonpye.com/

Mandatory Gun Ownership?

General, Keep and Bear Arms

Glenn Reynolds has an op-ed in the New York Times extolling the virtues of mandatory gun ownership.

IT’S a phenomenon that gives the term “gun control” a whole new meaning: community ordinances that encourage citizens to own guns.

Last month, Greenleaf, Idaho, adopted Ordinance 208, calling for its citizens to own guns and keep them ready in their homes in case of emergency. It’s not a response to high crime rates. As The Associated Press reported, “Greenleaf doesn’t really have crime … the most violent offense reported in the past two years was a fist fight.” Rather, it’s a statement about preparedness in the event of an emergency, and an effort to promote a culture of self-reliance.

And it may not be a bad idea. While pro-gun laws like the one in Greenleaf are mostly symbolic, to the extent that they actually make a difference, it is likely to be a positive one.

Greenleaf is following in the footsteps of Kennesaw, Ga., which in 1982 passed a mandatory gun ownership law in response to a handgun ban passed in Morton Grove, Ill. Kennesaw’s crime dropped sharply, while Morton Grove’s did not.

First of all, I’m not a big fan of mandatory anything. As a classical liberal while I am skeptical of government power, I strongly believe in a well-armed populace. This is a dilemma for me personally. I am from New Orleans as frequent readers of this blog and my other blog, Louisiana Libertarian, may know. While I did evacuate because of Katrina, I have spoken to many people who have confirmed that the rumors of rampant looting and destruction in the New Orleans area were true. Armed civilian patrols kept order in less damaged areas of New Orleans, until they were disarmed by force by the New Orleans Police Department (which itself was involved in looting and still has a reputation for being nothing more than a glorified street gang) and forced out of the city. After Katrina, I substantially increased my own personal aresnal which pre-Katrina was only a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 and I’ve added a Yugoslav SKS and a Romanian WASR-10 which is an AK-47 clone. I am in the process of getting a handgun. I will not be caught unprepared and most of all, unarmed when law and order breaksdown again. Gun problems could be cause because people are too busy focusing on gun law rather than gun detection. A gun detection System has been developed that can detect guns through a camera and alert the owner through an app, but many people aren’t aware of this!

Having said all that, I’m not sure mandatory gun ownership is the solution. People should have the right to defend themselves, but more importantly, they should have the right not to excercise that right. Laws like the one passed in Greenleaf, Idaho which merely encourage gun ownership are a good idea. However, laws that actually require it with the penalty of law are immoral and a violation of the rights of individuals. Those who choose not to own firearms do so for various reasons, including in some instances for religious and other reasons of coinscience. Those people should be allowed to stay gun free, at their own risk.

Kevin Boyd
I’m one of the original co-founders of The Liberty Papers all the way back in 2005. Since then, I wound up doing this blogging thing professionally. Now I’m running the site now. You can find my other work at The Hayride.com and Rare. You can also find me over at the R Street Institute.
https://thelibertypapers.org/2005/11/22/a-bit-about-kevin/

Boston Looking To Sieze Your Guns

Government Regulation, Individual Rights, Keep and Bear Arms

Boston to press Congress for tougher gun laws

Boston, facing a spike in gun violence and murders, will press the new Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives to come up with tougher national gun laws, Boston’s mayor said on Tuesday.

Thomas Menino, who has led a nationwide campaign against inner-city gun violence, said he would meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) of California in Washington this month to push for stricter gun laws.

“We need to convince Congress to pass common sense gun laws — laws that punish immoral gun dealers and protect our citizens,” he said in his annual “State of the City” address.

Boston’s been facing a spike in gun violence over the last two years. If you want a correlation/causation quandary, the next line in the story may present one for you.

Menino, a Democrat, said police took more than 1,800 guns off of Boston’s streets last year, twice as many as 2005.

This story, like many others, point out the implicit assumption gun control advocates are making. They assume that if you write laws trying to restrict ownership of guns, guns will magically go away. In reality, nothing is further from the truth. Legislation rarely eliminates whatever it bans, it just makes sure that only those willing to break the law will get a hold of it.

“Guns create fear that can kill our communities,” Menino said in the 89-year-old Strand Theater in Dorchester, one of Boston’s most violent neighborhoods.

No, criminals create fear that can kill our communities. Guns empower individuals to stand up to those criminals. If guns really create fear, we should take them away from the police. But inanimate objects don’t create fear, it’s the person wielding a gun which creates fear.

Brad Warbiany
https://thelibertypapers.org/

A Victory For Gun Rights In Ohio

Individual Rights, Keep and Bear Arms

The Ohio Legislature secured a significant gain for Second Amendment rights in that state when it overrode Governor Bob Taft’s veto of a bill that will override most local restrictions on gun ownership:

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lawmakers voted Tuesday to override outgoing Gov. Bob Taft’s veto of a bill that will wipe out local gun laws, the first time in 20 years that the Legislature has rejected a gubernatorial veto.

The move was all the more unusual because both chambers are dominated by Republicans _ the governor’s own party.

The Senate voted 21-12 on Tuesday to override, and the House voted last week. The bill will take effect in about three months.

Taft, who leaves office in a few weeks, has said the gun bill, which is meant to clean up Ohio’s concealed weapons law, pre-empts about 80 local gun laws, including assault-weapons bans in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo.

The Mayor of Cleveland is already threatening a lawsuit to try to keep the city’s gun restrictions in effect notwithstanding the state law, but it’s clear that this is a major Second Amendment victory.

Doug Mataconis
http://www.belowthebeltway.com

On the Second Amendment

Keep and Bear Arms

One of the contributors over at Peach Pundit is showing a very limited knowledge of both the Constitution and the intent Founding Fathers with the Second Amendment with this post on the Second Amendment and a gun ban in Washington, DC.

The District is arguing that the Second Amendment is a collective right. But one of the judges responses to that is great:

“Show me anybody in the 19th century who interprets the Second Amendment the way you do,” Judge Laurence Silberman said. “It doesn’t appear until much later, the middle of the 20th century.”

I typically enjoy banter with Decatur Guy, but I cannot express into words how wrong he is on the issue of gun ownership. He says he supports gun ownership, but says that this is “good regulation” and somehow believes that if all guns in the District are banned that criminals and drug dealers will stop using them. That is naive.

The Second Amendment is there, not just to keep government in check, but it’s for personal protection as well. It grants both the states to keep armed militias and the individual citizens the right to keep arms to guard against threats to their life, liberty and property, whether it be from government or criminal.

Jason Pye
http://jasonpye.com/
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