Discussion for article #239920
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Bernie knows that the Founding Fathers did NOT have a standing military or national or coast guard when they wrote the 2nd Amendment. He also knows that the country faced a real (not like today’s imagined boogie men in every closet) threat from a nation power off our shores - that being Great Britain. Bernie also knows the founding fathers only knew of black powder muskets…the weapons of that era.
A well regulated militia was made oup of citizen volunteers…because the Union did NOT have the money to fund a standing army. Today, we have the largest standing army in the entire world!
Time for a change…time to get all these unregulated guns and untrained citizens with guns under control! Over 36,000 gun violence and related deaths per year! No wonder the local police want armored vehicles - the Republicans and the NRA have turned our neighborhoods into war zones!
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Have you seen the gun control commercial where the guy walks into the office with a black powder musket, fires at someone and misses, then begins the lengthy process of reloading while the other members of the office calmly leave?
I love that.
Sir you deserve nothing less than a D, congratulations! Good luck Mr. Sanders.
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He has a mixed record and often hides behind his state as to why.
I think we should remember that if you believe the Second Amendment preserves the right to own a weapon and that it limits the Government from infringing on that right that alone is not enough to get you a good grade with the NRA. If you believe you should not be restricted from owning a weapon if you are a law abiding citizen in good mental health that won’t cut it with the NRA either. In order to get a A with the NRA you have to support the crazy stuff, guns in bars, armor piercing ammunition, automatic weapons, open carry anywhere, shooting to kill if you “feel” in danger, no background checks and sales to anyone with the money. If you don’t do that you get a poor grade with the NRA.
The NRA claims to have 5 million members ( that after offering free associate memberships ) which would mean 1.6 % of the American people are members and about 5 or so % of firearm owners. That makes them nobody.
There are 12 million Muslims in the USA, 42 million Blacks, 54 million Hispanics and about 150 million women. The NRA represents 5 % ( at best…probably 2.8 % in reality ) so Bernie should take that path?
I suppose the issue is not how much of the population is represented by the NRA, but how many Congresscritters are owned by the NRA.
That’s why we see no progress on gun control.
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What makes them somebody is that their members vote, speak loudly, and offer threats of violence when they feel threatened.
I truly believe that this “trying to take your guns” BS is just that. But someone should ask the companies that make these guns: “do you sell your product to ISIL, ISIS?”
Not that the Democrats should use the NRA as any reliable indicator for sane gun control positions. But he’s been more mixed on gun control legislation, he got into Congress in the first place in an election where the NRA poured in money against his opponent and has not taken on the issue of BASIC regulation with the kind of urgency that he should — which Hillary has, much to her credit.
Bernie’s campaign needs him to be the liberal savior for the left for his campaign to have the kind of viral credibility that it currently has, even though he’s far to the right of Clinton on this, pretty moderate on foreign policy, and not that far from her on social issues, either.
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Maybe if he really works at it he can get an F.
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I don’t know where you get the 5%. About 1/3 of Americans live in a home with a firearm. Granted the number of gun owners are down from 50% and the NRA’s nutty attitude isn’t representative of most gun owners, but you don’t need to pull “facts” out of your ass.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans have a Constitutional right to own a firearm. Reasonable restrictions can be placed on any Constitutional right as long as the applicable Constitutional standards are met.
EDIT: I see, you are saying NRA membership is 5% of gun owners. That sounds close to right. You need to also keep in mind that a lot of shooting sports require NRA membership to participate, and a lot of shooting sport enthusiasts don’t really agree with the NRA, so their actual influence is far actually less than 5% of gun owners.
Personally, I think of the NRA as a trade organization representing firearms manufacturers not gun owners.
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How about offering gun rights advocates some real concessions in exchange for giving up their rights? Such as reforming the due-process theater we now have, limiting appeals strictly to matters of guilt and innocence, banning lawsuits by criminals against their victims or anyone else involved in their apprehension, and so on. I don’t own a gun and last fired one in 2001 in the Army Reserves, but only a blithering idiot can look at the rhetoric from gun rights activists and not see what the real issue is. To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. To certain people, every problem looks like an excuse to take away someone’s rights.
Can you inform us what part of his record you disagree with? I know there are some more radical ideas that he doesn’t support like suing gun manufacturers but I’ve always found him to be principled and practical.
I think his response here is esactly how Dems should respond to RW talking points, right back at 'em. I got a D- but don’t know why I didn’t get an F coz the NRA is wholly wrong on the what Gun Control really means… etc etc