As an artist the VAST majority of my peers are of the liberal persuasion-- they don't like guns, they are afraid of guns and they think any of us who choose to own a gun have something wrong with us. They also think a lot of us "gun nuts" are gung ho about war-- and they are wrong.
I believe any president who sends our troops into harms way without the full authorization of the Congress using a formal declaration of war which in turn allows us to use EVERY weapon in our Military arsenal should be convicted of a war crime. We ask 1% of our citizens to sacrifice our sons and daughters in dangerous situations that we should not be involved with in the first place.
I am also sick of hearing how W misled us on Iraq's WMD's-- the bottom line is Saddam Hussein HAD them--- he used them on his own people, killing some 200,000 of them in the 80s and 90s. He refused the UN's requests to allow examiners in-- he had those weapons and he most likely shipped them to an ally before the US Invasion.
The Invasion was handled badly-- we should have protected Iraq's national treasures, re-established a military leadership and left, with the promise of a return if things got bad again.
But that's an argument for another time.
The 2nd Amendment states quite simply that law abiding citizens of these United States have the RIGHT to bear arms to give us the ability to defend ourselves should the government become tyrannical.
Don't like that one?
How about protection from Foreign Invaders?
Never happen?
I realize the idealised world some of my liberal friends live in. Rabbits talk to Bears and everyone breaks into a Disney-eque song in the woods. I live in the real world.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor-- the Emperor of Japan ordered his generals to formulate a plan of invasion of the United States. He believed (and he was right at the time) that our military was weak and that invasion would encounter little resistance from a poorly trained and regulated army.
His generals formulated a plan and presented it to him.
"We cannot invade the United States." They admitted sheepishly. "If we do there will be a rifle behind every blade of grass."
The Japanese did not fear the US Military-- they feared the US People.
Because we had the right to arm and defend ourselves.
If that fact alone doesn't change your mind, you are not thinking rationally. If the idea of a foreign invader landing on American soil makes you think I'm being ridiculous I remind you that many of us studying history cannot comprehend the decisions made by Prime Minister Chamberlain in the late 30s which led to England coming under attack by Germany. At the time, Chamberlain dismissed any possibility of another World War as "ludicrous".
Sandy Hook Elementary was a terrible tragedy-- Aurora Colorado Theater shooting was a terrible tragedy-- a tragedy that people closest to these sick individuals did nothing to get them the help they needed before they went this far.
I have no problem with Federal Background checks-- Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. Close the loopholes and screen for Mental illness.
But I will defend to the death your right to FREE SPEECH, as I will my right to bear arms, and I am not alone in that thinking.
