Could It Happen Here?...
Looking at this from a realistic and rational perspective one would, I believe, have to acknowledge it very well could.
It is questionable whether the 2'nd amendment to our constitution will continue to be interpreted as giving ALL law abiding citizens the right to keep and bear arms or whether it will change via progressive thought that the amendment means only a well regulated militia, which of course includes law enforcement officials.
It is reasonable to consider that should our legislative, judicial, and executive branches someday all be controlled by a progressive majority who believes, for whatever reason, that firearm confiscation is in the nation's best interest you can almost bet it will happen.
It's hard to imagine any sort of mass gun confiscation anytime in the foreseeable future. And given our situation, it impossible. We just don't know who has what guns. We could have buy-backs, but that's nowhere on the horizon. Even theoretical mandatory buy-backs (confiscation without intrusion), but that's not even within the solar system. We can make it a crime to have a certain thing (as we do with plenty of other things), so if it turns up at a crime scene, for example, it can be added as a crime in itself (as we do now). But the time for banning what we have out there now passed a decade or two ago. Many tens of millions of guns have been added to the market since then, and many millions have changed hands. That's why Scalia pointed out (in Chicago and Heller) that there was still plenty of room for regulation, just not much more on what was already widely, popularly owned. It's a Constitutionally sound position. All we can expect for time being, though, is things as they are. The best we could hope for, by way of some "progressive" change, would be to wrest the courts from the right and try to bring in judges who will see the simple reality that if the militia is the armed citizen and the militia is to be well-regulated than the armed citizen must understand that he has additional responsibilities with this right he is choosing, of his own volition and unlike most of his fellow citizens, to exercise.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
Any implication of gun confiscation in the forseeable future is nothing more than fearmongoring.
ReplyDeleteAgree 100 percent, Jerry. Looking at this from a realistic and rational perspective one would, I believe, have to acknowledge it very well could not. Unless one is talking about centuries in the future.
DeleteWhen it happens, if it happens, it will be will the result of a steady campaign over many years until it just happens.
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all concerned. I won't be here.
"A steady campaign"
ReplyDeleteIf someone from 200 years ago suddenly appeared, I suppose he would see many social and political changes that have occurred over the years as the result of a steady campaign, changes that are generally accepted as normal and beneficial to society. Perhaps 200 years from now, a lack of gun ownership will be normal and beneficial.
Or perhaps the existence of personal protective shields makes guns ineffective and thus no longer desirable.
Deer, elk, moose, bear, quail, pheasant, etc. will have PPE?
DeletePerhaps in 200 years it will no longer be acceptable to shoot animals. I think that is more likely than animals having PPE. After all, who 200 years ago would have thought interracial, inter religious, and same sex marriages would be socially acceptable...let alone women voting!
DeleteI don't think it will ever happen in America. If anything, widely available unregulated guns will probably ring the death knell of this nation one day.
ReplyDeleteJMJ
I am not as pessimistic as you are Jersey. With respect to "unregulated guns" being the death of America. I'm far more concerned with the threat of unregulated religous fanaticism creep into secular government in the USA and uncontrolled global population growth.
DeleteMe? Not too concerned. And the reason: The passion play of slippery slope arguments promoted by the NRA since the Cincinnati Revolution. It goes like this ...
ReplyDelete"Take guns away from domestic abusers." "Nope, can't do that," says the NRA, because if you take guns away from one, you take guns away from all.
"Prohibit people on the Terrorist Watch List from buying guns." "Nope, can't do that," says the NRA, because people are entitled to a presumption of innocence -- even suspected terrorists.
"Criminals -- especially violent offenders -- should not have guns." "Nope, can't do that," says the NRA, because 'good guys' with a gun need an excuse to 'open carry' and defend themselves against 'bad guys' with a gun.
"Mandate trigger locks and safe storage of firearms so kids kids don't accidentally kill kids." "Nope, can't do that," says the NRA, because a little collateral damage trumps fundamental gun rights.
These slippery slope arguments have poisoned the well of public discourse such that no reasonable and responsible consensus can be reached. The steeper the slope, the heavier gravity weighs down upon us. This is how fanatics play this game.
Since I won't be around all that many more years, and I stopped hunting years ago, I think I'm going to adopt the Butler attitude with respect to firearms and firearm regulations... Frankly, I don't give a damn. It is certain to be better for my mental health and blond pressure.
ReplyDelete