if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803
Gun Control Realities
by Lee
One of the issues that has always been troubling to many people about Giuliani has been his past support of gun control. As a solid supporter of the 2nd Amendment this has always been one of those areas which has given me pause. However, gun control is such a losing issue that the Democrats don’t really push for it any more, so I doubt that President Giuliani would be racing to outlaw guns were he in office. And as an example of just what a losing issue gun control is in this country, even the Democrats don’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole.
After the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid cautioned Tuesday against a “rush to judgment” on stricter gun control. A leading House supporter of restrictions on firearms conceded passage of legislation would be difficult.
“I think we ought to be thinking about the families and the victims and not speculate about future legislative battles that might lie ahead,” said Reid, a view expressed by other Democratic leaders the day after the shootings that left 33 dead on the campus of Virginia Tech.
Democrats traditionally have been in the forefront of efforts to pass gun control legislation, but there is a widespread perception among political strategists that the issue has been a loser in recent campaigns. It was notably absent from the agenda Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled earlier this year when the party took control of the House and Senate for the first time in more than a decade.
Of course the usual slate of gun-grabbing lunatics—Kennedy, Feinstein, etc.—are going to kick into overdrive. But if this were really a solid election year issue the Democrats would have pounced on it.
It isn’t. They didn’t. CCW laws are as popular now as they have ever been in my lifetime. The NRA won and the liberals lost. This isn’t to say that we don’t need to be vigilant or can become complacent, only that we need to look at gun control in realistic terms. It’s an election loser for all but the most die-hard liberals, and everyone knows it.
Comments
His stance on that wouldn’t keep me from voting for him.
Did I say that right? It doesn’t sound right…
oh i expect that lunatics will make their push along with the media and loons.
I’m glad you say that we need to look at gun control in realistic terms, I live in a major city, and lived in NYC for 18 years, so my gun control views are colored by the fact that having LOTS of uncontrolled guns carried by LOTs of people at any given time seems very very risky, for all the reasons that you can imagine. Population density and unfettered access to hand guns are a recipe for disaster.
That being said, I’m firm believer in the 2nd amendment, I just think that we as a nation need to come to grips with the rising level of violence and anger in personal discourse and address the roots of it.
Which is not banning guns, nor is it allowing them willy-nilly. I also think that, just maybe, most people (centrists) have matured to a point where a acceptance to the reality gun ownership is no longer problematical.
It could also be that after 6 years of the Administration that seeks to usurp power for itself, and is willing to suspend basic rights, those very centrists are thinking that some measure of defense against Tyranny may be necessary, and so more willing to arm themselves… :)
Ted Kennedy’s head just asploaded....
I’ve always felt that Ted’s gun control fervor was more self-preservation than anything else....
Gun control works. Gun control has worked in Washington D.C., where the criminals control all the guns, just like in Austraila and Great Britian as well.
oh i expect that lunatics will make their push along with the media and loons.
A VT student speaks out about CCW.
That article was from last summer, too, when that escaped convict was on the loose near the VT campus. And they still didn’t get it, as the bill to allow carry on campus was tabled.
Yay.
Oops, I forgot to add the [/sarcasm] tag after Yay.
I just finished watching and listening to the Cho videos and hearing his manifesto. Nikki Giovanni should be proud. She (and no doubt others) have clearly taught him the philosophy of victimhood to a peak level of understanding. His manifesto reads like a “me as victim” poem. All he needed to do was plug in Klebold and Harris’s methodology of settling scores.
The grad students at Appalachian Law School in Grundy, VA had the right answer 5 years ago for guys like Cho.
we need to be more compassionate, Cho is obviously a victim of “structural violence”.
[/major sarcasm]
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Bush hasn’t changed abortion laws, and I doubt Guiliani would change gun control laws. His stance on that wouldn’t keep me from voting for him. Nor would his views on abortion or gay marriage.
Why is this man still in office? Why is he still alive?
(Not threatening him, libs, so keep your cool.)