Originally Posted by
theGinsue
I'm happy to see that no one here is naive enough to take Obummers statement at face value.
He's attempting to placate both sides while clearly attempting to lull firearms owners into a sense of clamplacency.
Paraphrasing sniper's comment, Bert (Burt? sp?)...BPTactical... hit the nail on the head with his comment:
Any "common sense" gun control measure is nothing less than a surreptitious way to continue to erode the freedoms and protections we have granted under the Second Amendment. The use of phrases like "common sense", "intelligent" and "fair" are used to play on the emotions of both pro-firearm and anti-firearm individuals.
"Why do you need an assault rifle?"
"Why do you need a high capacity magazine?"
"I don't think anyone should have those things because their only purpose is to kill."
These are just a few of the questions and comments I was faced with by a co-worker a week and a half ago. This same person had come to me looking for me to help him get a great deal on a particular new model of the Taurus Judge. Clearly he wasn't against firearms as a whole, just "common sense" restrictions.
What these individuals don't get is that we (firearms advocates) have had to continue to take several steps backwards to draw our next line in the sand - over and over again. We are now so far from the pure and clear direction of the Second Amendment that we no longer enjoy the freedoms and security 2A was intended to provide.
Our Constitution, the supreme law of our land, doesn't use the words "if", "unless", or "except". Our Constitution clearly states
...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
(Note the period at the end. This means there is no room for additional comment or interpretation.)
So, what is the answer? How do we protect ourselves from the evil actions of individuals like Jared Loughner? We don't; at least not completely. Any society that is willing to guarantee it's citizens with their inherent RIGHTS must be willing to accept a certain degree of risks from those who would abuse those rights.
Another of of founding documents contains this declaration:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
"Unalienable Rights". This is just what the first 10 amendments to our Constitution address. This is why they are called the Bill of Rights. At no place in our Constitution are we guaranteed the right to feel secure from our fellow citizens. Yes, it's true the Fourth Amendment identifies our right to "feel secure" from inappropriate and illegal searches and seizures from our government entities, but this doesn't translate to a total sense of security.
So, I believe that the proper course is to remove so many of the restrictions currently in place which prohibit honest, law abiding citizens, from the ability to protect themselves and for citizens to prepare for the possible occurance of someone wishing to deal violence upon you.