For more than a hundred years, according to the Supreme Court, and the lower courts as well, the 2nd amendment conferred on state militias a right to bear arms—but did not give individuals a right to own or carry a weapon.
This changed in 1977 when the NRA was suddenly run by conservatives with a new interpretation of the Second Amendment. Their ideas gained steam with the election of President Ronald Reagan and continued to gain traction with both conservative politicians and citizens.
In 2008, the Supreme Court decided that the NRA was right. For the first time ever, the Second Amendment conferred individual rights to gun ownership.
Conservatives often embrace “originalism,” the idea that the meaning of the Constitution was fixed when it was ratified. The Constitution, to conservatives, was written in stone and CANNOT be changed. (even though the Second AMENDMENT is an example of the Constitution being AMENDED)
Of course, there is a final irony to all of this: One of the central tenets of conservative thought and lifestyle—the right to bear arms—is due to three decades of having the NRA argue that the Constitution is a living document that required a new interpretation.
But, as you all may very well know, facts have no place in the Conservative right-wing, nut-bag world.
God, I bet you feel sooo smug right now. You think you’re sooo smart. Is this now I,A Sunday version. fuck this.
There always has to be a final irony, doesn’t there. EVERY. FREAKING. TIME.
Dude, 9 out of 10 Dentists agree, dinosaurs don’t exist. ergo, no need for guns.
I agree that conservatives are crazy, but let’s leave their nut-bags out of it.
What revisionist garbage.
Until 1938 the Supreme Court never even gave an opinion on the Second.
Lower courts however ALWAYS treated it like an individual right, since all the others in the Bill of Rights were the same way.
Only the debate-school logic of the politically charged Miller case in 1938 somehow made the Second a ‘collective’ right.
It’s unfortunate that it took 70 years for that error in logic to be fixed, but as the Dred Scott decision on slavery shows, the SC moves very, very slowly when it comes to overturning their bad decisions.
Heller correctly reinstates the Second along with the other Rights defined as an ‘individual’ right, just as it’s always been in reality if not under US law.
What the hell is the “G-Thang” that you’re referring to, and what does it have to do with your rant?
Who is the NRA? The NRA is not some faceless bureaucratic invention of government. The NRA is not the Devil reincarnate. The NRA is not a implant by a foreign power. The NRA is me! I am the PERSON who has taken-on anyone who attempts to limit my right to defend myself and my family and limit my Second Amendment rights. Keep this in mind when you criticize the NRA – you are criticizing me an American patriot.
Please don’t use your real names here. It’s just embarrassing for everyone.
G Thang: Good thing. This dates back to 340 BC, when Aristotle was tutoring Alexander the Great. Aristotle was telling Alexander of how he locked in a great mortgage rate on his new villa, when Aristotle uttered the phrase, “ain’t nothing but a good thing”. Alexander the Great misheard Aristotle but thought the phrase was fantastic and continued to use it almost daily in his rulings of Ancient Greece.
Attempting to belittle your adversaries through the use of broad brush pejorative terms does nothing to help your argument. Perhaps you could try getting to know someone that holds an opinion different from your own and attempt to understand their point of view. It would undoubtedly make the world a better place.
The Bill of Rights is not a wish list, but a notice to tyrants. It’s intended to be defended by The People with guns.