In the wake of the Vegas massacre, it’s more apparent than ever before that Democrats have all but ceded the ground, meaning and effects of the 2nd Amendment to the “gun rights” crowd. Not only is this cowardly, and dangerous, it’s also absolutely unnecessary. The far-right interpretation, supported by the baseless, twisted and radically activist decision via Heller, goes against two centuries of precedent, historical studies and common sense. But it’s now considered a fait acompli whenever gun control is discussed, even by the folks who want it to happen. This needs to stop.
I watched with great frustration this morning as a Republican and a Democrat discussed gun control on This Week, appalled by how far the topic has lurched to the right. Democrats appear to already start with the far-right’s view of “gun rights,” and desperately try to fight a rear-guard action, when they actually need to destroy the far-right’s premise to begin with.
No, it wouldn’t take away anyone’s “rights” if we outlawed all semi-automatic weapons in America, and limited guns to internal chambers only. No, it wouldn’t take away anyone’s rights if we limited guns to six bullets, requiring hand-loading one bullet at a time, and outlawed all detachable ammo containers and modifications. No, it wouldn’t take away anyone’s right’s if we strictly regulated quantity, firepower, capacity, range. Because no one ever had a “right” to unlimited consumer choice of guns in first place. There never was a right to own any gun one wants, regardless of lethality, firepower, range or capacity. It’s not anywhere in the Constitution, and it’s not in the Second Amendment, even if we throw out the most important part: being a member of a well-regulated militia. Those no longer exist, of course, which technical renders the SA null and void, but that’s another story.
Every Democrat needs to read this article by Adam Winkler, from the New York Review of Books, and memorize it: Disarming the NRA. Read it and focus like a laser on another link within the article too, which does the best takedown of Heller I’ve ever seen. Reva Siegel just demolishes Scalia and the other rabid right-wing judges. He shows that they’re all over the map with their defense, and contradict themselves, switching from “originalism” to “populism” again and again when convenient.
(The actual rationale for the 2nd Amendment never was to protect individual gun rights. Americans had the right of self-defense/hunting already through English Common Law. It was to ensure the proper functioning of state militias, in order to postpone the formation of a Federal standing army. And the state militias themselves were primarily in place to put down domestic rebellions and insurrections, especially slave rebellions. It was never to protect American citizens from “government tyranny.” It was to protect the states from slave insurrections and rebellions like Shays and Whiskey.)
I’ve always thought Scalia invented rationales out of thin air, and this article confirms that for me. Like the one far-right folks use to push for “military grade” weaponry like AR-15s, so they can keep up with the government they apparently intend to overthrow. There is no such thing in the Constitution. There is no such “future-proofing” of weaponry anywhere. But there are a few mentions of treason and insurrection, and what happens in that case, which an armed uprising against the government would cover.
A side note: How on earth is it “anti-American” for NFL athletes to peacefully kneel during the anthem, in protest over systemic racism and police brutality, but it’s not “anti-American” to collect an arsenal so a person can go to war against his nation’s duly elected government, which means killing fellow Americans?
Americans of good conscience need to push back against this rather recent mainstreaming of the far-right’s twisted, perverted, demented view of the Constitution, and Democrats like Pelosi have to stop talking baby steps like “gun checks.” They need to fight to send a fringe view back to its rightful place — the gutter — or we’re going to have endless massacres with increasing body counts. They need to push for serious gun control, without apology or hesitation, all of which would easily fit within the confines of “keep and bear arms,” with or without the main clause about well-regulated militias.
Call your Senators and House members, please, and get them to read the Winkler article.