Friday, February 1, 2013

Saving the Second Amendment

Gun lovers don't seem to understand that their own actions are endangering their beloved Second Amendment. People in this country were horrified by the slaughter of innocent schoolchildren at Sandy Hook. People are growing weary of the daily news of drive-by shootings, shooting suicides, rage shootings, crime shootings, and accidental shootings. After decades of complacency about gun violence, people want change.

People are asking their representatives in government to enact new laws to reduce the level of gun violence. Most people will be satisfied if rather modest changes are made, such as banning assault rifles and requiring background checks of everyone who buys guns, including people who buy them at gun shows. If the NRA would simply accede to these changes and let them become law, the public's furor for any additional new legislation would dissipate.

But the NRA has been resisting all change, just as it has for years. They insist that the Second Amendment gives them the right to have whatever weapons they want, free of government interference. If they succeed in blocking even the modest laws that are now under consideration, the majority of Americans will feel their will has been frustrated. It is very likely that they will start talking seriously about repealing the Second Amendment. People who want to protect their children from guns will feel that they have no choice other than to eliminate the one thing that the NRA gives as the reason why change can't occur.

With only 25 percent of Americans owning guns, it probably won't be all that hard to get rid of the Second Amendment. The Constitution only requires 75 percent of the states to ratify an amendment. There have been quite a few amendments over the years.

Repealing the Second Amendment will not ban guns. It will simply put gun laws on the same footing as other laws. States and municipalities will be able to decide whether they want guns around or not, and on what terms. Since most people don't own guns and don't have much interest in guns, a lot of places will probably put rather severe restrictions on gun ownership and use. We will start to see our death rates from guns decline to be more comparable to the rest of the world, which does not have the guns or the gun problems that we do. These successes will be noticed, and states will follow each others' examples and enact progressively stricter laws.

The Second Amendment protects the rights of the minority of Americans who own guns. That minority has been shrinking steadily for decades as our population has shifted from rural to urban. City folk and suburbanites just don't hunt much. They don't grow up with guns, so they don't have any emotional attachment to them. They don't think they need guns to protect themselves. Guns are simply irrelevant to an ever growing majority of Americans. If they get fed up enough with gun violence and an intransigent NRA, they'll dump the Second Amendment without regret.

19 comments:

  1. Way off base.... Your facts are backwards. Gun sales and gun ownership has been increasing in the last 10 year's. The crime rate has been decreasing. Check the FBI uniform crime report. You personally don't like guns, that's fine, but its no reason to try dictate other people's lives. For every one person who writes their representatives with anti gun sentiments, there are 50 who write with pro gun fact.

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  2. More than 50% of the country is pro gun dumb ass. My wife and 4 kids don't own guns, but they are all pro 2a. Just because an individual does not own a gun doesn't mean they don't support 2a rights. most head of household males that own guns have support for guns from THe rest of the household.

    You may have a small circle of friends and family in that guarded gated community/utopia you must live in, but it is a big country. We showed up in bigger numbers to your hate speech seminar, anti gunners show up in even smaller numbers to our events. Your small groups of anti American idealists are fading day by day. You liberals think with emotion, not intelligence. So a month after a tragedy the interest is gone. Us pro 2a folks are left waiting for the next unfair attack on our rights.

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  3. "...it probably won't be all that hard to get rid of the Second Amendment."


    LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHA

    You funny!

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    Replies
    1. Lee, gather your friends and go knock door to door asking for guns.

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    2. He can't even get well known facts straight or write a cute little blog without blatantly lying ... you expect him to know how to read an address and punch it into a GPS?

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    3. Lee Goodman doesn't care about the facts, he only wants to use propaganda to further his agenda. Why else would he delete my stuff from face book. I posted a video of his last Anti Gun meeting and it didn't go well for him. Most of the audience was pro 2A.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7C44B55YYLQ

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  4. You're one of those special type people, aren't you? Facts, logic, and reason have no bearing in your mind, Mr. Goodman. Nobody is forcing you to get a gun, so don't. If you're going to argue crime statistics, and compare us with the rest of the world, you may want to bring facts to the table. This has been done, ad nauseum, and your arguments hold no water.

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  5. I can't even really be upset with this stuff. In order to raise my eyebrows, a piece of writing has to reach some sort of threshold of reason or logic. Unfortunately, this drivel does not come close to any such thing. It truly is simply sad that someone would spew this garbage - but sad is all I am. It does not even justify being upset.

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  6. umm...how about additional facts...such as each and every one of these people were crazy! Each and every where under phyco drugs. Walking zombies! Why wheren't they in a hospital?...because everyones tax dollars are being used to create new laws and propaganda while everyone ignores the current laws. I'm all for background checks...but that's it! Should we outlaw all sports cars and V8's and limit top speed of autos to 65 next??

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  7. wait? 25% off houses have guns??? did you see that published map of a small part of the country? And those are the legal ones! Get real man. Many more people have them and its the criminals that get in trouble with them...not the honest citizens...now disarm?...and leave the criminals armed? no

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  8. Mr. Goodman the NRA nor guns are the problem we are seeing as of late concerning gun violence. The problem lies directly with you I and every adult in this country for allowing the decay of social morals to breed and escalate to this point. No gun has killed anyone by its self. The NRA is protecting gun owners from governmental encroachment. I also have a problem with your math concerning the number of gun owners vs population. You counted babies and children I believe. If the urban residents get fed up with violence they will arm themselves and take self defense courses as they are rapidly doing today. Thousands of non shooters are wanting a gun for self defense as of late. They want instructions and they want practice to allow themselves to personally defend themselves and their families. Many adults, men women grandmothers grandfathers disabled people all facets of population have come to the conclusion that police government and our military cannot protect us constantly in our mobil lives and are accepting a gun as the best protection against lethal attacks, You and your rhetoric are pathetic false and non-believable.

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  9. I walked for six blocks both sides of the street knocking on every house door and asking if their home owned a gun and whether they would support the 2nd Ammendment or not. Just six blocks. 52 homes. 65% owned guns and 95% said they would defend the Constitution. I believe your figures are way off. Maybe you should get a life Goodman and quit trying to control others.

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  10. Goodman how closely involved are you with the Brady bunch? The anti-gun Sarah Brady bunch not the TV family. You sound exactly like them the way you distort facts figures & stats with little regard for the truth. Maybe you own a safe full of guns but you are just anti-2nd Amendment. Could that be right Goodman? Are you against the U.S. Constitution? States now control most gun laws but the Constitution gives us the right to own & carry a gun. Check out the Dec. federal court ruling in Illinois where the 7th ordered Illinois to pass a concealed carry law within 180 days or the state residents would automatically revert to constitutional carry. Sarah Brady Gov. Quinn Chicago mayor R. Emanuel Attorney General.Lisa MadiGUN & not to forget her father House Speaker Mike MadiGUN are all about to bust a gut over Chicagoites carrying a legal hand gun. You are in this pathetic group Goodman without any doubt for you fit the mold as well as any of the above named liberal anti-gun anti-constitutional gun opponents.

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  11. Mr. Goodman

    Would you be open to attend a debate on gun control?

    I know you read these comments.

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  12. Speaker requests can be made at www.StopConcealedCarry.org Click on "Get a Speaker".

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  13. I do not own a gun, but this article is absurd. legal gun owners are not the problem.

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  14. Lee Goodman is wrong. Don't worry about what this foolish man says. let him be a victim. We will have concealed carry.

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  15. Lee, the only way that concealed carry will be stopped is to repeal the 2nd amendment. If(NEVER GONNA HAPPEN)the 2nd amendment gets repealed so does the government that repealed it. That was the point of it.

    You live in a country of free men and women. We have this freedom because of the 2nd amendment. Lee, you do have good intentions. But the reality are that bad people with guns are not supporters of concealed carry. They don't want their potential victims to fight back. Those who would be criminals carry firearms right now regardless of the law. The folks you encounter who are defending their right to concealed carry are not criminals. These people wish to follow the law.

    I get it that you have some fear of guns and most likely have never fired one before. But I invite you to accompany me to a gun range. See that the folks there are nice, hard working, passionate law abiding people. We spend a lot of money and take pride in our guns. We practice at the range often so that we are familiar with safe handling and operation of our weapons. The vast majority of legal gun owners are this way. We get passionate about these issues because for some of us a weekly or monthly trip to the range is part of our life. I personally enjoy target shooting. I hope that the skills I have learned will never have to be tested in a life or death scenario, but if they are, I will be glad to be prepared.

    So Mr.Goodman Will you accept invitation to go to a gun range with me and learn a little bit about guns and who gun owners really are? I will gladly teach you proper safety and handling techniques and let you fire a few of my guns.

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