The Radical Left has been very successful at using the hurt feelings of gay people as a cudgel to undermine First Amendment protections of free speech and freedom of religion. So now they plan to go after Second Amendment rights using the same theory of victimhood.
The left is busy designing a new and seemingly absurd civil right, which threatens to undermine an actual right under the 2nd Amendment. This new “civil right” is to live in a society free of guns and/or “gun violence.” Bolstered by the success of the gay rights movement, anti-gun activists are already attempting to impose gun control by urging the federal government to force states to impose regulations under federal civil rights and disability statutes, by filing civil suits under the same theories, and by pursuing dubious appeals to public health (as in the anti-tobacco crusade.) They hope activist judges will further manipulate the 14th Amendment and statutes derived from it, to impose countervailing rights to that of keeping and bearing arms. Like the gay rights movement and the campaign against cigarettes, the focus will be on victimization (at the expense of personal choices and responsibility) in the expectation that American political views on guns will “evolve” over time with the helpful analysis of elite experts and unelected judges.
The Progressive left used to mock the notion that they were Socialists; now they are eagerly slapping “Bernie” stickers on their Priuses and Lesbarus. Similarly, the left used to claim libertarians and conservatives were paranoid for thinking that they were “coming for our guns.” Now, they openly admit that their agenda is a “Gun-Free Society.”
Just assume the left are lying whenever they claim their agenda isn’t Venezuelan style Marxism and you’ll be right most of the time.
We have the 2nd Amendment to protect the citizenry from tyrannical government and borderline psychotic 2-3%ers, the most violent amongst us, that run amok within society. Are all present day 2-3%er national socialists/communists ADHDed to not know the history of the 20th century?
Let’s replace “gun” with “abortion” in Mr. Dionne’s piece and see how the “Tolerant Folk” respond.
Who wants to bet that the cases will based on the “right to dignity” that Roberts conjured out of the penumbra of the 14th Amendment? The 14th Amendment is truly the gift that keeps on giving to the Left, isn’t it? They can get whatever the hell they want out of it, can’t they?
I’d say this has already been covered by the First Amendment, which nowhere says that you have a right to not be offended by someone else’s speech.
This is exactly parallel — you have no right to not be “frightened” by someone else’s ability to defend themselves.
I am gun owner and a card carrying member of the NRA. When I lived in L.A an active member of Pink Pistols. There is no way in hell I will give up my firearm. What was it that Charleton Heston said, “You’ll have to take it out of the fingers of my cold dead hand.”
Sean L. do you think W regrets having nominated John Roberts to SCOTUS? A reason not to have another Bush in the White House. 41 was bamboozled into believing that Souter was a conservative justice.