Active Users:226 Time:28/03/2024 11:45:48 AM
How would the world be different Roland00 Send a noteboard - 26/05/2022 07:03:22 PM

View original post
I get most of my news from Twitter. Not from the plethora of idiots who Tweet their opinions. Rather from the wide range of news providers I follow. I follow across the spectrum, from Vox and MSNBC to The Washington Examiner. And yes, even FOX. I have a paid subscription to the NYT and I also read Murdoch’s New York Post. Mostly for the sports coverage but also for amusement.

But I digress. As one might expect, Twitter exploded over the school shooting in Texas, with even those I follow from #YankeesTwitter taking a break from baseball arguments to weigh in. Now Twitter is not a place where one expects to see nuance displayed and reasonable conversation engaged in by those with differing views. But, as always in life, sometimes one is surprised.

So, let me try to reprise here the back-and-forth discussions of this week as conducted in 280 characters or less. I fear this post will not display the same brevity.

One of my follow/follow back contacts on Twitter is a 72 year old blue collar pastor who is extremely progressive and mostly rails against billionaire oligarchs and Republicans, particularly former President Trump. Why do I follow him, you ask? Here’s why. As you might expect, he Tweeted continually about Republicans valuing gun ownership more than the lives of children. He expressed his belief that if politicians weren’t in the pocket of the NRA and the munitions manufacturers, they would outlaw guns.

I replied, to do what you are asking for would require repeal of the Second Amendment. When he challenged that by saying, fine then we allow flintlock rifles and handguns only, I replied that previous Federal Court rulings render that as his opinion only. The Courts will knock down any attempt to ban private gun ownership based on precedent.

Much to my surprise, he liked all my replies. He even re-Tweeted them to his followers! Respectful discourse on Twitter?? Who would’a thunk it?

Sadly, this is what is missing. Those advocating stricter laws can’t seem to do so without accusing those who disagree with them of trampling over the bodies of murdered children. Conversely, some gun owners react to any talk of reasonable laws as if it would require fleeing to the mountains into armed camps. This is not conducive to agreements.

So what can be done? What is possible? What is doable?
,
Let me stipulate that I own a single gun. A shotgun I bought for home defense. I’ve owned it for 20 years. It has only been fired at a shooting range. I live in Connecticut, a Blue State with strict gun laws. In Connecticut, you need a gun permit to by ammunition, let alone a rifle or handgun. Acquiring that permit requires attending a State approved class, which typically costs $250. Then after passing the class, you file the paperwork along with a fee to the State (of course) and wait at least 30 days. Once approved, then you can buy your gun. For which there is another short waiting period.

In Connecticut, it is not legal to purchase a replica “assault weapon” like the AR-15 and its many copies. (AR-15 is a brand designation like Q-Tips or Kleenex ). Your gun cannot hold more than 10 bullets. That’s the maximum permitted by State law. So, no Glock-17s in my state unless you’re a cop. Glock-10s only. No 30 shot rifle mags either. 10 shots. Period. These laws went into effect after the Sandy Hook shootings.

Other states run the gamut from even stricter laws to nearly none. What no state or municipality has is an outright ban. They can’t.

Now, here’s where someone, I don’t know whom but someone, screams “the Constitution isn’t a sacred document!”

Why yes. That’s correct. It isn’t sacred. It doesn’t have to be. It already has all it needs right here:

"Article VI, Clause 2:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

This is called the Supremacy Clause. It clearly states the Constitution is the supreme Law of the Land. So any law passed by Congress, a state, county, city, or town that overrules the Constitution will inevitably be thrown out by the courts. The only recourse is a Constitutional Amendment.

So, what can be done? Well, obviously states where any 18-year-old with no criminal record can buy a gun, (like Texas) could pass laws to make it more difficult. But laws are worthless if not enforced. The mass shooting just before this school shooting in Texas was in Buffalo, NY, and New York is a Blue State with much stricter gun laws. Yet that perp was also able to buy guns without a problem. Why, when they already have laws that Texas doesn’t? When existing laws are ignored, is anything accomplished by passing more?

What about red flag laws? Fine, if there’s a way to include due process so that those wrongly accused don’t have the burden of proving a negative that they aren’t threatening or mentally ill. Universal permits with background checks and testing for any type of gun? I live in a state that has that already and if I move that wouldn’t be why. Limits on magazine capacity? Again, I already live with that.

Those are some of the things that can be done. IF the constituents want them and vote accordingly. Not banning all private gun ownership. You’re not going to get 2/3rds of both Houses and 3/4ths of all states to go along with that.


If in 2005, George W Bush 43 nominated John Michael Luttig instead of John Roberts and J. Harvie Wilkinson III instead of Samuel Alito.

It would be different in unimaginable amount of ways, but on guns the 2nd amendment would be seen differently.

https://reason.com/volokh/2021/09/13/what-would-have-happened-in-heller-if-bush-had-nominated-luttig-and-wilkinson-instead-of-roberts-and-alito/

But hey it is whatever Mookie can live with! We start with his framework and assume it is rational and everyone else is nuts.

Reply to message
If no one else wants to open this can of worms, I guess I’ll have to do it - 26/05/2022 02:07:18 AM 874 Views
Unfortunately, there's not much to say. - 26/05/2022 04:26:10 PM 186 Views
You are not going to get a non emotional discussion about guns, it will never ever be rational - 26/05/2022 08:04:55 PM 149 Views
Re: You are not going to get a non emotional discussion about guns, it will never ever be rational - 26/05/2022 08:36:34 PM 165 Views
There are so many (partial)-solutions and no single one is going to solve it. - 26/05/2022 09:03:10 PM 147 Views
Unfortunately every time there is a mass shooting, gun sales spike. - 26/05/2022 09:26:09 PM 182 Views
Yes - 26/05/2022 09:55:14 PM 150 Views
Re: There are so many (partial)-solutions and no single one is going to solve it. - 26/05/2022 09:56:23 PM 160 Views
You understand two things can both be true, right? - 26/05/2022 10:19:56 PM 163 Views
In such a way - 26/05/2022 10:27:52 PM 160 Views
What Mookie said, Sense and Sensibility with Perspective - 26/05/2022 10:29:04 PM 148 Views
Oh yes, everyone is to blame, and hence no one - 26/05/2022 04:58:37 PM 173 Views
You obviously don't know anything about Canada's gun laws. - 26/05/2022 05:20:25 PM 167 Views
Remarkable - 27/05/2022 03:55:54 AM 162 Views
4% PAL acquisition is, in essence, a ban. - 27/05/2022 04:13:45 AM 154 Views
Well, that was a load of chickenshit - 27/05/2022 05:08:29 AM 154 Views
He said, running away. - 27/05/2022 11:34:19 AM 155 Views
He said, running away. - 27/05/2022 11:34:20 AM 147 Views
You are the RAFO poster child for inability to hold a rational discussion that includes disagreement - 26/05/2022 06:50:11 PM 175 Views
No, we're just disagreeing on what is rational, that is all... - 27/05/2022 03:42:23 AM 157 Views
You just don’t get it. - 27/05/2022 04:22:55 AM 182 Views
I think the same of you... - 27/05/2022 05:05:43 AM 170 Views
Article VI, Clause II - 27/05/2022 05:17:40 AM 159 Views
You're like a broken record. - 27/05/2022 05:23:52 AM 161 Views
Bro you literally come from a country that plays nuclear chicken with Pakistan. - 27/05/2022 11:40:07 AM 163 Views
And? - 27/05/2022 02:24:09 PM 161 Views
Lol Parody account confirmed. - 27/05/2022 04:04:56 PM 153 Views
Your repertoire of insults needs expansion. Keep trying. - 27/05/2022 04:27:35 PM 153 Views
He said, not coming up with any retort of his own. - 27/05/2022 09:58:30 PM 148 Views
whooops *NM* - 27/05/2022 09:58:03 PM 107 Views
Oh, fuck off. - 27/05/2022 06:21:45 PM 175 Views
Why is liking the Constitution a binary thing? - 27/05/2022 08:36:12 PM 149 Views
As you point out, it isn’t binary at all. - 27/05/2022 09:16:18 PM 169 Views
*NM* - 27/05/2022 09:55:28 PM 105 Views
It is not - 28/05/2022 07:19:32 AM 152 Views
Re: Oh, fuck off. - 28/05/2022 06:53:38 AM 157 Views
That's a lot of words to say absolutely nothing. - 28/05/2022 06:56:05 PM 160 Views
When you shut your eyes, of course you can only see nothing - 28/05/2022 09:43:13 PM 153 Views
A dead child for freedom is the choice made every abortion. - 30/05/2022 08:16:18 PM 149 Views
Oh really? Then explain to me... - 31/05/2022 08:41:09 PM 154 Views
That baby isn't a baby, but that man is a woman - 01/06/2022 01:57:40 AM 145 Views
How would the world be different - 26/05/2022 07:03:22 PM 149 Views
Yes and if my aunt had balls she would be my uncle - 26/05/2022 07:14:08 PM 140 Views
I do not believe the original thread was made with curiosity or charity in mind. - 26/05/2022 07:24:20 PM 141 Views
Well isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black. - 26/05/2022 07:33:12 PM 131 Views
Well it is about respectability politics you see - 26/05/2022 07:38:59 PM 159 Views
You're one of those men. - 26/05/2022 08:27:53 PM 152 Views
Hypocrisy - 26/05/2022 08:42:17 PM 130 Views
I don't know whether English is your first language - 26/05/2022 10:00:04 PM 139 Views
Your attempt at mind reading is an abject failure. - 26/05/2022 07:58:07 PM 134 Views
You started with Foreclosure - 26/05/2022 08:08:36 PM 127 Views
Foreclosure, huh - 26/05/2022 08:48:50 PM 135 Views
My advice is listen to the podcast I linked Dragonsoul *NM* - 26/05/2022 09:05:13 PM 76 Views
One more thing - 26/05/2022 07:25:22 PM 139 Views
And I guess this post proves my point, lol. - 26/05/2022 07:34:48 PM 139 Views
Did I trigger you? - 26/05/2022 07:50:02 PM 124 Views
Never owned a gun, but I support gun rights. But... - 27/05/2022 02:51:26 AM 156 Views
I pretty much agree. - 27/05/2022 03:18:38 AM 166 Views
Yep, what Tyr said *NM* - 27/05/2022 03:27:33 AM 79 Views
The NY Yankees are now tweeting about guns. - 27/05/2022 03:26:45 AM 134 Views
Bah - 27/05/2022 04:25:25 AM 138 Views
Baseball twitter is bad - 27/05/2022 04:29:15 AM 130 Views
UPDATE on the shooter, Salvador Ramos - 27/05/2022 03:27:59 PM 157 Views
Can't be more of a disgrace than waiting an hour to go in and kill him. - 27/05/2022 04:05:58 PM 139 Views
Re: Can't be more of a disgrace than waiting an hour to go in and kill him. - 27/05/2022 04:15:22 PM 148 Views
I disagree. - 27/05/2022 10:02:23 PM 132 Views
It's funny how the left thinks only cops should have guns, but also ACAB. - 27/05/2022 06:15:23 PM 146 Views
They already lost their balls. - 27/05/2022 06:52:52 PM 142 Views
I am glad you protect your family - 27/05/2022 08:46:05 PM 129 Views
But see, this is why the death of community and religion is bad for America. - 27/05/2022 10:12:49 PM 141 Views
Charles Whitman took his rifles to the tower at UT Austin in 1966 and killed 14 random people. - 27/05/2022 10:21:42 PM 146 Views
And in May 1928, a maniac bombed a school in Michigan, killing 44. - 27/05/2022 11:46:34 PM 131 Views
I think the presence of visual imagery provides a mimetic response - 27/05/2022 11:52:32 PM 139 Views
Reasonable, but even then, that's merely another condemnation for the modern world. - 28/05/2022 12:06:30 AM 146 Views
I agree - 28/05/2022 12:56:10 AM 140 Views
I haven't said "bAn GuNs!1" - 27/05/2022 11:33:43 PM 140 Views
This is taken from the late Justice Scalia’s majority opinion in 2008’s DC vs. Heller - 27/05/2022 11:50:40 PM 143 Views
Please do not relitigate Heller with me - 27/05/2022 11:59:21 PM 144 Views
I wasn’t and will not. - 28/05/2022 01:01:59 AM 139 Views
We would scare them off that is what - 28/05/2022 01:43:11 AM 134 Views
You chose wisely - 28/05/2022 02:59:47 AM 149 Views
You did not. My apologies. - 28/05/2022 12:03:43 AM 139 Views
Why not 'harden' all schools and kindergartens with armed guards ? - 30/05/2022 03:40:06 PM 139 Views
You're completely right and I hate it. - 30/05/2022 08:24:29 PM 125 Views
Another podcast I enjoyed - 27/05/2022 08:26:56 PM 137 Views
This thread is reminiscint of the classic Wotmania debates from the aughts. - 29/05/2022 12:22:47 AM 161 Views
Nobody would like my idea, but personally, I think Korea's 2 year mandatory service would do us good - 30/05/2022 08:30:37 PM 127 Views
Yep there is zero chance that will happen. - 31/05/2022 10:32:06 PM 135 Views
Interesting - 31/05/2022 10:56:53 PM 147 Views
Re: Yep there is zero chance that will happen. - 01/06/2022 01:50:37 AM 131 Views
Believe it or not I am not always a Grump - 01/06/2022 03:38:16 AM 143 Views
Hot damn, Moolin Rouge was fantastic! *NM* - 01/06/2022 09:36:04 PM 132 Views
What about trans-men - 31/05/2022 10:07:21 PM 151 Views
an intriguing question - 31/05/2022 10:34:39 PM 157 Views
It's all tongue-in-cheek, and isn't that dumb? - 01/06/2022 02:01:04 AM 138 Views
Can the 21 year olds - 01/06/2022 03:44:08 AM 145 Views
Something tells me this won't factor in anyone's favor... - 01/06/2022 09:08:31 PM 153 Views
Wait, the *late* conservative Justice Alito? - 01/06/2022 03:56:19 PM 140 Views
my bad - 01/06/2022 05:09:22 PM 141 Views
Until the existing gun laws are actually enforced, I am not willing to entertain any new ones - 09/06/2022 09:55:41 PM 168 Views
Oh yeah, and I am sick of the hyperbolic gaslighting by both sides - 09/06/2022 10:02:25 PM 167 Views
Anarchy, the State, and UTOPIA ! - 10/06/2022 08:25:05 PM 138 Views
It gets darker and darker - 22/06/2022 02:10:08 AM 139 Views
It's so bad dude. So bad. Those poor souls... *NM* - 30/06/2022 05:04:56 PM 81 Views

Reply to Message