A revisionist take that Michael Bellesiles would appreciate . . . Sorry, NRA: The U.S. was actually founded on gun control
Madison’s intent could not be more obvious: his Second Amendment refers only to state militias. If not, why include that exemption for what we now call “conscientious objectors?”
When Madison’s amendment was rewritten by a joint committee from the House and Senate in 1791, the “religious” exemption was lopped off as too cumbersome in language and too complex to enforce. Thus, the Amendment as it now stands.
But Madison’s original intent remains and is there hiding in plain sight for any Supreme Court Justice who takes the pains to look for it. The gun crowd and their apparatchiks ignore, as well, the very reason the Second Amendment got into the Constitution in the first place: to calm the anti-Federalists’ fears of the establishment of a standing army. The Second Amendment is, in fact, Madison’s (and the Federalists’) response to those who felt threatened that the strong central government, as proposed in the new Constitution, might disarm the state militias. And to miss that connection is to . . . well, miss everything.
A federally licensed dealer sold a firearm to someone who completed the required paperwork and passed the mandated background check, so . . . Retail chain sued for selling guns to Texas church shooter
Relatives of three people killed in the November shooting rampage inside a Texas church are suing a sporting goods chain that sold two firearms to the gunman.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday seeks $25 million in damages. It alleges that Texas-based Academy Sports & Outdoors was negligent in selling an AR-556 rifle to Devin Patrick Kelley. The weapon was used in the Nov. 5 attack.
Figures don’t lie, but liars definitely figure . . . The Science of Selling Gun Control: Picking the Right Data
In a Science Magazine article titled, “Firearms and accidental deaths: Evidence from the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting,” economists Phillip B. Levine and Robin McKnight claim to find a causal link between the spike in gun sales after the Sandy Hook shooting and the number of fatal firearms accidents in the “Post-Sandy Hook Window” running from December 2012 to April 2013.
The real issue with this research is found, as usual, in the methods. Levine and McKnight use an eight-year overall period – 2008 through 2015 – for their analysis. Within these eight years, they build a five-month average to which the post-Sandy Hook period is compared, and ultimately found that the post-Sandy Hook surge in gun sales is linked to 57 additional fatal firearms accidents in the same period.
This overall period includes the year with the lowest number of fatal firearms accidents on record (2015), which continued the long-existing downward trend, but excludes all years before 2008 when fatal accidents were considerably higher. This serves to water down the average, making the number of fatal accidents in the post-Sandy Hook period seem shockingly large.
He’s going there . . . When I Set Up My Classroom Now I Only Think About Which Bookshelf Can Stop a Bullet
I’m going there.
When I started teaching setting up the room was so much fun. What set-up would benefit learning? Where would the bookshelf and the reading table go? How can I make my room their room where they felt at home and happy to learn.
That wonder and fun has been robbed from my profession.
Ask a teacher where the heavy bookshelf goes and it is almost the same answer everywhere. By the door. Where does the reading table go? By the door. Anything big and heavy that would stop a bullet goes by the door. Do you get what I am saying?
Somehow the left always boils it down to the gun, though . . . Why Inequality Predicts Homicide Rates Better Than Any Other Variable
Inequality predicts homicide rates “better than any other variable”, says Martin Daly, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at McMaster University in Ontario and author of Killing the Competition: Economic Inequality and Homicide.
This includes factors like rates of gun ownership (which also rise when inequality does) and cultural traits like placing more emphasis on “honor” (this, too, turns out to be linked with inequality). “About 60 [academic] papers show that a very common result of greater inequality is more violence, usually measured by homicide rates,” says Richard Wilkinson, author of The Spirit Level and co-founder of the Equality Trust.
According to the FBI, just over half of murders in which the precipitating circumstances were known were set off by what is called the “other argument” – not a robbery, a love triangle, drugs, domestic violence or money, but simply the sense that someone had been dissed.
The roots of hoplophobia . . . Why People Are Anti-Gun
Some people assume that antigunners are driven by police state desires or emotional reactions to the latest tragedy. Often, it goes much further back. You probably know that astronaut Mark Kelly is married to Gabby Giffords who was a member of Congress until a psychotic named Loughner shot her among many others. You probably also know both are active gun banners now. I am reading his twin brother Scott Kelley’s Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery which I am much enjoying.
Scott describes growing up in New Jersey, the son of a police officer:
Sometimes my father’s cop friends would come over to our house for parties, and when they got drunk they would pull their guns out. Once, my father wanted to show off his new gun to his partner, so they decided to use a wooden sculpture I had just made in school as a target. I had brought it home and showed it proudly to my parents, and I was heartbroken that my dad would blast holes in my artwork. [pp.35-36]
Any guesses how far back his brother’s feelings about guns go?
This won’t last long . . . Local case pokes loophole in domestic violence gun prohibition
North Carolina may be the only state in the nation where a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction doesn’t trigger a lifetime federal ban on owning a gun.
The reason: A local case that went before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2015, brought by a man now sitting in prison for sex crimes. His attorneys convinced the court there was enough difference between North Carolina’s definition of assault and the one in federal law to throw out a federal gun charge.
SLOW MOTION UZI
The only appropriate response from the NRA:
Come, Take.
It doesn’t matter where you live. We all live under the same Constitution. “The RIGHT of the PEOPLE to KEEP and BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. “.
Hey dumbass…you come for my guns & I WILL HURT YOU!!!
I guess they’ll be a 2nd American Civil War after all….I guess when the smoke clears.. We’ll probably be seeing some Nuremberg Style court stuff on TV…Possibly some executions..Firing squads, or Hangings…History is obviously about to repeat itself….
According to liberal logic he’s informing NRA members he intends to hurt them.
Liberals always accuse conservatives of doing or planning to do what they themselves are doing or planning to do.
And that is why I’m not renewing my membership in AAAS..
So millions of guns were sold in the months following Sandy Hook and Levine and McKnight think they can link that to 57 accidental deaths. Even if they can, by selectively choosing their steady state baseline, they count *57*, who cares? That would represent a fraction of a percent of the gun related deaths during the same period. Ohh, look at me ma, I’m an economist and I figured out that if I wash the data just right I can show a temporary four tenths of a percent shift in a carefully defined statistic during a brief carefully defined time period.
Next up, genius economist establishes causal link between increased birth rates 8 years ago and last years mother’s day card sales. Whoo-hoo.
Wait a second you mean the 2nd Amendment is just about militias? Well then who is the militia? According to the definition of the time it is the whole of the population (that means errybody) and then we get to the part that states The right OF THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT be infringed. See? Should’ve read the whole fuckin thing that first sentence is just a preamble. Basically that amendment translates to modern English as:
In order to keep a well trained properly functioning militia (MILITIA! NOT NATIONAL GUARD OR ARMY THERE’S A DIFFERENCE JACKASS) the people (all those folks with a pulse) shall be able to own whatever weapons they deem necessary for their wants and needs and the government can go fuck themselves if they think they can tell people what they can and cannot own.
That Amendment was written so that us (the citizenry) could maintain parity with our nation’s army. The founders gave us all the ability and responsibility to be the ultimate check on federal power not the other way around. Every US citizen is a sovereign state unto themselves provided they do not harm others and we are ultimately responsible for maintaining and defending our republic and ourselves against all enemies foreign and domestic be they a power drunk government or a 2 bit hood in a dark alley.
Very well said and amen
“Why People Are Anti-Gun . . . ”
Because their mom’s episiotomy was screwed up and they came out her a_ _.
Because they serve the ruler of hell.
Because they love and support communism and can’t do tyranny while you have a RTKABA.
Because THERE ARE A WHOLE BUNCH OF GLOBAL-COMMUNISTS OUT THERE THAT ARE GETTING PAID TO PUSH IT, THROUGH THE AUSPICES OF THE UN. All of which, require America, and Americans to be subservient to the POS Global-Communist NWO.http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/development-agenda/
Sounds like was his feelings were hurt when he was a young kid?
OK, got it, daddy may have been an a-hole. But you are a grown up now. Man up, you have hurt feelings, got it!
Now understand, I didn’t shoot your wife, so f**k off and go respectfully speaking, go take care of your wife.
Public forum is not the way is not a win for her dignity. She can practice with family and friends. If you’re retired, and need more money. Do commercials.
BTW: drunk or not maybe dad was trying to teach you to not point a gun at something you don’t want to destroy. It’s not like he killed your dog????
If you read both the Shafer Report and a report from the Drug Adviser to the UK, one Professor David Nutt. You will find that cigarettes, alcohol, and even caffeine are worst than cannabis. Just like suppressors, SBR, SBS, and most full autos…marijuana is purely a recreational product that harms no one unless improperly used.
What I find most interesting in this whole 2nd Amendment debate is that two states refused to ratify the Bill of Rights unless the re-written 2nd Amendment was not included. The two states? Madison’s own Virginia and New York. Go figure.
Come And Take It
Jon, Do you think you could get your hands on a CMMG Guard in .45ACP to try out?
I love the PCC. I have a JP GMR in 9mm and it’s fantastic. I’m planning a super shorty 9mm pistol for suppressed range fun build but sometimes I wonder if a super shorty in 45ACP would be better. I don’t have anything in 45 currently, and already load 9mm, so it makes it hard to switch
There can’t be a more plastic, made-for-the-B-movies politician on the planet.
Once again, say it with me, the 2nd amendment does not convey the idea that in order to own arms you must be in a militia, it conveys the idea that if we’re going to have effective militias the people need to already own the arms. The militias are made up of people who own guns,
It says “the right of the people”. Madison was a pretty good wordsmith. If he wanted it to say Militia, that’s exactly what it would say. You can take that it out of context or not. The meaning stays the same.
I’m not that hard to shop for… all Mrs.ATFAgentBob needs do is send the kids off to the grandparents’, buy a big silk ribbon, wrap herself with it, and lay in bed. Although a nice big breakfast afterwards would be nice it is not required. However should she buy me ammo, knives, BBQ accessories, or Jeep parts she should probably brace herself for epic snu snu the likes of which this planet may not survive… oh and that really cute diamond necklace, bracelet, or earrings she was going on about.
I’m pretty happy with the VZ grips on my J-frame. Much better for drawing from the pocket than the standard rubber grips that came with it.
Already blew my Christmas budget. Got a TV,a coffee press and a GUN. All for my bride…gotta’ buy more ammo.
#ToNewsom – Similar to a #KinsleyGaffe, when a vapid closet fascist gets so righteous, the mask slips. See also: #ToCuomo
#KinsleyGaffe – https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/michael_kinsley_399281
” I had brought it home and showed it proudly to my parents, and I was heartbroken that my dad would blast holes in my artwork. ”
So, what’s our conclusion here, that NJ cops are assholes who shouldn’t be trusted with firearms or arrest authority? I think we knew that already.
Or should we conclude that Mark’s dad is almost as big of an asshole as Mark is, and these things can be inherited or nurtured in youth?
Or, all of the above?
I don’t normally comment but I gotta admit regards for the post on this amazing
one :D.
I’d say Family then Guns. Those are the only two that are real so…not sure I understand the question.
I think I’d said a few weeks ago that maybe we could spring for a Magpul or two for him to keep stacked and at the ready from now on…
….good grief, that kid hasn’t been told about his stepmother and sisters yet? If any of y’all send a card to him, make damn sure you don’t mention that… I do not envy the one who has to break that news. Poor kid… God bless him.
An armed policeman driving on the street outside of a church building is no more a moral contradiction than having an armed usher standing inside the door of a church building.
As far as I am concerned, neither is a moral contradiction. Just as there is sound theology behind “Just War” and the just use of force by armed civil authorities, there is sound theology behind “just self defense,” no matter the circumstances of that self defense.
02/19/1942