Below is my column in The Hill on the call for bans and limits on guns like the AR-15 since the massacre in Texas. Both President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama have blamed the gun lobby for the violence in calling for new major gun controls. However, the barrier to banning weapons like the AR-15 rests more with the Second Amendment than the gun lobby. Any effort to reach some “commonsense” solutions will depend on the willingness to end the sweeping rhetoric and deal with the realities of the constitutional limits on gun control.
Here is the column:
As the nation mourns another massacre of children, we again try to make sense of the senseless. It is unimaginable and yet all too familiar. Within minutes of the killing of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a familiar cycle has emerged — grief coupled with angry demands for gun reforms.
President Biden used his initial remarks to denounce the gun lobby and demand gun control. The president spoke passionately and movingly on this loss but, after roughly a dozen lines, he turned to the politics of gun control, asking: “When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?”
It is a virtual mantra after massacres, as politicians pledge to stop gun violence while denouncing their opponents as facilitating the carnage.
The gun lobby, backed by millions of gun owners, is indeed a powerful political force. But it is not the gun lobby but the Constitution that is the greatest obstacle to some of these calls for gun bans or limits. If we want to get something done, we will need to be honest and nonpartisan, a challenge that previously has proven too much for our leaders. There is a limited range of movement for legislation, given the constitutional right to bear arms and controlling constitutional precedent.
In discussing “common sense gun laws,” the president once again denounced the availability of what he collectively called “assault weapons,” a common reference to such popular models as the AR-15. “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for, except to kill someone?” the president asked. “Deer aren’t running through the forest with Kevlar vests on, for God’s sake. It’s just sick.”
The call for “common sense” responses to this plague of violence is welcomed, but common sense also requires a common understanding of the realities of gun ownership and gun control.
Take the AR-15. Efforts to ban this model already have failed in the courts on constitutional grounds, though litigation is continuing on that issue. In 2008, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller, recognizing the Second Amendment as encompassing an individual right to bear arms. Clearly many have good-faith disagreements with the constitutional interpretations behind Heller. However, that is currently the controlling precedent.
The AR-15 is the most popular gun in America and the number is continuing to rise rapidly, with one AR-15 purchased in every five new firearms sales. These AR-15s clearly are not being purchased for armored deer. Many are purchased for personal and home protection; it also is popular for target shooting and hunting. Many gun owners like the AR-15 because it is modular; depending on the model, you can swap out barrels, bolts and high-capacity magazines, or add a variety of accessories. While it does more damage than a typical handgun, it is not the most powerful gun sold in terms of caliber; many guns have equal or greater calibre.
That is why laws to ban or curtail sales of the AR-15 run into constitutional barriers. Most recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down a California ban on adults under 21 purchasing semi-automatic weapons like the AR-15. And the Supreme Court has a pending Second Amendment case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, that is likely to further strengthen gun rights this term.
After past tragedies, some of us have cautioned that there is a limited range of options for gun bans, given constitutional protections. There also are practical barriers, with an estimated 393 million guns in the United States and an estimated 72 million gun owners; three out of ten Americans say they have guns. Indeed, gun ownership rose during the pandemic. When former Texas congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke declared, “Hell yes, we are going to take your AR-15,” he was widely celebrated on the left. However, even seizing that one type of gun would require confiscation of as many as 15 million weapons.
If the president truly wants a “common sense” response to this tragedy, it needs to be based on reality, not rhetoric. In the past, massacres have been weaponized for political purposes, with measures that are either clearly unconstitutional or largely ineffectual.
When advocates call for banning gun sales, their challenge is not “the gun lobby” but the Second Amendment. Notably, after this latest massacre, film director and leftist activist Michael Moore went on MSNBC to call for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Moore said he does not want “to nickel-and-dime this … we need some really drastic action here.” He insisted we need to accept that “we are a violent people, to begin with. This country was birthed in violence, with genocide of the native people at the barrel of a gun.” Putting aside the hyperbolic language, Moore at least is being honest about what this would take — though a repeal is highly unlikely to garner the needed 38 states to ratify such an amendment.
Instead, we need a national dialogue, not another diatribe on guns.
There are some gun limits that could pass constitutional muster, but they will not materially reduce the number of guns in society or, necessarily, gun violence. There also are a variety of areas that could offer real benefits in reducing such shootings, from badly needed mental health program funding and greater school security to more effective “red flag” laws.
Many of us are prepared to respond to the president’s call to “to turn this pain into action.” However, when he says we can “do so much more,” we need to be honest with the American people on the range of movement allowed under the Constitution to restrict an individual constitutional right. Otherwise, we will continue this tragic cycle of mass shootings followed by familiar political maneuvering.
There are 19 children and two teachers who deserve more from all of us.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
The fact is that the AR-15 has been used as an automatic military weapon since 1959 and a semi-automatic civilian version for 30 or so years. However, use of semi-automatic weapons (rifle or handgun) for mass or “street” killings is prevalent only in the past decade. So, is the problem the gun or something else. If something else removing guns will not solve the problem as they are readily available from both foreign and underground domestic sources.
It’s about the Gun user’s ‘Age of Maturity’ in that He or She has reached the ability to make “A Morally Correct Decision”.
Anyone can pull a Trigger. Not everyone can make a Morally Correct Decision.
Making a Morally Correct Decision takes a number of ‘experiences over time’ for One to hold a basis of balanced Moral Character.
IMO: That’s around the age of 34.
You want to google that term “automatic weapon” which AR-15s aren’t.
Charlie Martin,
You are correct.
What is also correct is the AR15 is not an “assault weapon.” And “assault weapon” is a select fire weapon. I.e. one that can fire single shot, multi-shot (three round burst) or fully automatic.
Thank you for sharing …. very useful information.
The issue s that the gun control advocates won’t do what’s necessary because they know they will fail. They would have to amend the Constitution. With the current make-up of Congress they could only get an amendment through by nuking the filibuster, but they realize that there would not be 38 states to vote for ratification. So they use the rhetoric for political results, not for results that will in anyway fix the issue (or reduce it, assuming anything will).
Anything that comes out of Congress probably won’t survive the inevitable court challenges.
So what will be accomplished? “Feel good” actions that bioth sides will use for political gains.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments,
The gun lobby created the modern interpretation of the second amendment. So ya, they are the problem.
No doubt you need a few more Fauci/Gates/NIH/NIAID/CDC/HHS & Klaus “Anal Schwab” mNRA Booster Death/Clot Shots.
BTW Troll what are you trying to spit out?
You Hate the America? If that’s the case leave us in peace & don’t let the door in your Commie/Fascist Arse!
https://banned.video/watch?id=629154aa33b70327655fbef1
Sammy ; could you please refrain from emotional false replies and go with something factual ?. Your pure bias shows…and colors you .
Yeah, famous gun nuts like Laurence Tribe.
Tribe does advocate for violence.
Of course he assumes he will never be on the receiving end.
Just conservatives.
And won’t he be surprised if/when he reaps what he sows? They always are.
BAN CARS
“42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year,,,,”
– NHTSA
Ban & Arrest Pfizer CEO/etc, WHO, NIAID, NIH, CDC, Fauci, Gates ,Titros(sic), all mRNA/vaz key pushers.
Just listen to a couple of those Mass Murdering SOBs & laugh as they know they already have set the stage to have more then 3.5 Billion to die.
Nope, no one cares even for their selves or their families own life.
Hell, please let our on govt send “Ukraine Nazis” another 50 Billion ,Levin the Jew. Sarc.
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Biden is preparing to implement never before used executive orders that suspend Congress and establish a deep state dictatorship ahead of the midterm elections.
https://banned.video/watch?id=629265022428792b0ec2c5f6
Ban Abortion…… tens of thousands of children slain by that fake “right” yearly….millions globally.
THE DEMS. MEDIA ALLIES and Hollywood use every tragedy to push their own Agenda and Authoritarian rule. They ignore the rights granted by the Constitution and the Case law. In fact, the DEMS feel the Constitution is in their way.
BAN CARS?
A car has never killed anyone; a car has never done anything that was not fully, totally and completely controlled by a human being.
A gun has never killed anyone; a gun has never done anything that was not fully, totally and completely controlled by a human being.
Stop the lunacy of human beings; control the lunatics.
__________________________________________
The right of Americans to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
The communist (liberal, progressive, socialist, democrat, RINO) dependents and parasites can’t force themselves to leave America’s money behind.
If one disagrees with the fundamental law of a nation, one may emigrate, one should have already emigrated, to his “happy place.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Get up on Olde Paint, and get the —- where you ain’t.”
– Proverb
RE: “A car has never killed anyone; a car has never done anything that was not fully, totally and completely controlled by a human being.” The old familiar argument. The old familiar reply…The right to examine and license citizens to determine if they are qualified and competent to operate motor vehicles of a variety of different classes is reserved to the States by the United States Constitution. That’s the minimum required prior to causing any property damage or death as a result of some failure on their own part or otherwise whilst the vehicle is in operation under their hand.. Any effete responses you deem necessary to add in rebuttal in this matter were old an worn out long before the Titanic sank. Might as well try to defend the use of a broken crutch in a rehab center.. I am done with it.
One would think the public would be demand answers as to what kind of Big Pharma SSRI Mass Murder Pills or Politicians illegal dope these lil mental ill shooters were on.
MK Ultra? Some other Govt program?
Jonathan: Your column sounds like something we would hear on Fox. Rupert Murdock must have sent you a memo: Don’t blame the gun lobby for the mass killings in Buffalo and in Texas. Blame it on the 2nd Amendment. The two back to back mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas were made possible by the conservative SC in the 2008 Heller decision that expanded gun rights–particularly the individual constitutional right to possess a handgun. More people in the US are killed by handguns than AR-15s. But these two mass shootings have drawn attention to the epidemic of gun violence in America. Many legal scholars have severely criticized Heller because of its tortured interpretation of the “right to bear arms”. Since Heller there has been an explosion in gun sales. No criticism of the Heller decision by you.
You say people buy the AR-15 for “personal and home protection” or for “target shooting or hunting”. If I wanted a weapon for “home protection” I wouldn’t buy an AR-15. I’d buy a short barrel double barreled shotgun. That would better stop someone coming through window or my back door–and without having to really aim. Then you make the bizarre argument the AR-15 is “not the most powerful gun sold in terms of caliber; many guns have equal or greater calibre”. Sure, but unless you are worried about an elephant or rhino coming through the door you really don’t need a higher caliber gun. And what is your authority for this ruse? It’s “The Firearm Industry Trade Association”. You quote the NSSF almost word for word. You couldn’t be a better spokesperson for the NSSF if you tried. The shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde didn’t buy their AR-15s for “personal and home protection” or for “target shooting or hunting”. They bought those weapons to kill Black people and children in large numbers! The 2 mass shootings were not “tragedies” as you say. They were the predictable result of lobbying by the NSSF and NRA who spend millions every year to buy GOP politicians to oppose sensible gun control. The enablers of mass gun violence are people like Donald Trump who just spoke to the NRA convention in Texas.
And what is your proposal to address the fact that the US leads the world in mass shootings? You say we need a “national dialogue” and “badly needed mental health program funding and greater school security”. Where have you been? Since Sandyhook 10 years ago we have had an ongoing “national dialogue” over gun control and ways to prevent mass shootings. To no avail because GOP politicians get millions in campaign money from the NSSF and the NRA to oppose gun control. Your proposals sound very much like those of Ted Cruz and other GOP politicians. Cruz wants all schools to lock all the doors except for one, arm every teacher with a Glock and hire more police to guard the schools. But, God forbid, don’t stop a Salvadore Ramos from buying an AR-15. The problem is that neither of the shooters in Buffalo or Uvalde had a history of mental health problem. And there are no algorithms that can accurately predict who will be the next mass shooter. Cruz calls Democratic proposals for gun control are just “political posturing”. You call them “familiar political maneuvering”. Same thing. You and Cruz are in lockstep with Fox and GOP opponents of gun control. You are part of the problem not the solution!
Where are you hearing that the Uvalde shooter used an AR15? The facts and timeline in this case are being intentionally obscured and lied about in media so that Congress can holler about AR15’s and push for more gun control. They do not confirm he used an AR15. They do not know if he bought the gun used, or how he got the money, or if it was someone else’s gun, or how many guns the shooter had on him. Lots of mis and disinfo coming from the news reporting on this.
The shooter was an illegal alien, mentally unstable, and had associations with MS13. These are far bigger isses than gun control. He could have used a number of other “weapons” to perpetrate his crimes.
An illegal alien! In other words, a Biden voter. Didn’t know that but not surprised.
The shooter, Salvador Ramos, was born in North Dakota, according to a Tx State Senator. He was violent towards his mother, grandfather, grandmother and peers. It is doubtful he had allegiance to Biden considering that trait was demonstrably nonexistent to those in his life
He was a broken kid because his mother was a drug addict, his father nonexistent, raised in a dysfunctional family, the usual story in these cases. Democrats want to focus on guns because focusing on broken families makes it too uncomfortable. Democrats broke the American nuclear family. Ask VP Dan Quayle
RE:””Democrats want to focus on guns because focusing on broken families makes it too uncomfortable…”” Disagree!! The right to privacy issues in these matters are complex, and need to be addressed resolved to a working plan, are relevant to both camps, though each will find exceptions and strong disagreements where their own particular oxen are gored. That will forever be the rub. Absent accommodation on both sides, the stalemate persists and whoever has the most votes will win. That is why it continues to remain a political issue which subverts any social, ethical, or moral considerations.
The Family and Society
2207 The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. the family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.
https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7T.HTM
ZZ, on this one occasion you lost me. Estovir is on target. Family is at the core of the society we live in. I don’t see how privacy enters the discussion when we are trying to find reasons for aberrant behavior. Even when societies separate children from their families (Spartans) a new type of family is created, but in my belief the real family is superior. The gun is an intangible. The psyche is malleable
You might appreciate this girl’s remarkable story, in Uvalde, TX. These are the stories that characterize life in America for immigrants and minorities who seek a better future. There is always someone who has had it far worse.
#NotAVictim
Defeating obstacles
https://www.uvaldeleadernews.com/articles/defeating-obstacles/
RE:” I don’t see how privacy enters the discussion when we are trying to find reasons for aberrant behavior” It enters into discussions when one is trying to establish prevention and controls. Consider the constellation of issues and arguments raised when exploring the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of Sandy Hook, Stoneman-Douglas, Buffalo, and now Uvalde.. Privacy issues are obstacles to matters central to the assailant as the actor, and to that assailant’s and any potential other’s access to weapons. When one considers all the avenues of investigation one must walk down for answers and to establish solutions, issues of the violation of privacy rights are always raised. Unless we have consensus as to what an individual’s life experience has been, necessary to know and understand reasons for aberrant behavior, the status quo will persist.. There must be accommodations to bring privacy rights into line with what society needs to know in order to prevent and control. The barriers must come down. Unless we have consensus on who is competent to own and use firearms, and what information must be available and accessible to vet that individual, the status quo will persist….Thus were my considerations in forming the statement you responded to.
“when one is trying to establish prevention and controls”
Got it. Family is at the core of the society we live in, but when government enters the picture privacy (and rights ) become an issue, but that is an issue with all government action.
“relevant to both camps”
That is true wherever government is involved. One should strive toward no government involvement especially the federal government. In most cases a dysfunctional family is far better than the government bringing up the child.
Competence in firearms depends on the environment where a child grows up. I am reading the history of settling one unique area compiled from voluminous diaries of a mother and child who founded this area around post Civil War times . Mom was just as worried about her child as today we are of our own. However, as a young teenager he would travel alone to a neighbor many hours away, sometimes stranded away from his home. He shot a bear at this age, and I think he was alone at the time.
Government is unable to appropriately manage 330 million people in different areas under the same umbrella.
We must depend on the family and the community around the family. Frequently that community was centered around a church, and the congregation would act in approval or disapproval of certain behaviors. Most people like to fit in.
Social changes of man did not take months or a few years like we are seeing today. It developed over the milenia through trial and error so certain things we do when changed cause havoc. We have to be respectful of mans ability to learn and slowly change without government interference.
“In an interview with CNBC, Democratic State Senator Roland Gutierrez said that Ramos had moved to Uvalde from North Dakota, although he didn’t know when that happened. He also did not explicitly state whether the suspect was born in North Dakota or was a U.S. citizen, as some Twitter users have claimed.”
Estovir, thank you for correcting the record. I read he didn’t have a juvenile record. Maybe they tolerated the abuse, thinking that would save him?
I adopted 2 kids decades ago through my church, same mother, different fathers. Mother was a drug addict, fathers were AWOL, both kids, pre-teens were a mess. I threw them in church, paid their way, taught them fishing, car mechanics, tutored them, got them in the gym….they turned around as young men over the following years.
I recall how VP Dan Quayle was mocked ruthlessly by the Left when he argued that kids needed two parents, saying single parenting was not wise. The case in Uvalde, TX likely could have been prevented had a loving dominant male role model and loving mother had been in his life, as the quote above from the Catholic Catechism teaches.
I was raised in a dirt poor home. I had to work by age 15 to contribute to the household. I went to college in the Deep South, 1000+ miles away from home, and paid for it solo. I took a greyhound bus to return home for the holidays. When the college kids mocked me for my English, calling me “Little Ricky”, my dress attire, my food, their words baffled me. They did not hurt me in the slightest, even when they called me sp|k many times. I may have been poor but I was rich beyond compare because my parents provided love in abundance. I knew who I was: a son who was loved deeply. They have been deceased for over 20+ years, and I still talk to them daily, my heroes. They never finished grammar school in Cuba,
When love is provided at home, it shows down the road. Kids do not need a government handout or program. They need loving parents. It has worked for millennia
Lawmaker says Texas school shooter originally from North Dakota
https://www.valleynewslive.com/2022/05/25/lawmaker-says-texas-school-shooter-originally-north-dakota/
Estovir——Your story is poignant, beautiful and inspiring! Thank you for posting it, especially on a Sunday morning.
De nada. We just returned from Sunday Mass. Today is Ascension Sunday, the conclusion of Easter Season, and the beginning of “Acts of the Apostles” as followers of Christ. Our priest mentioned the Uvalde shooting, violence and evil growing in our world, tied them to the Suffering Christ, the Resurrection, Ascension. Towards the end of his sermon he put it on us, to be modern disciples like those in “Acts of the Apostles”, spreading love, hope and journeying with others, as Pope Francis often says. Good stuff!
Happy Memorial Day, everybody. Let us all go out and interact with those who need encouragement, hope, light. Unplug from the internet.
Our call is to witness and to evangelize, each in our own way, as empowered by the Spirit
The war on the nuclear family in America has been waged by the prog left for decades. To even incite racism as more non minorities have stable families…ergo an excuse for the left to say of some deviants society made them do it. Friends I have that are of mexican , decent all have thriving close knit families. A bond American families once took for granted across all walks of life. Govt became the arbitrator in this and with the war on poverty fraud America became a warzone of attacks on family…welfare “entitlements” ..to the “chosen” classes…. affirmative action and equity garbage galore !. In place of trying to make families more resilient and more common govt has done exactly the opposite and have been intentionally divisive playing this game of bait & switch and pouring trillions of taxpayer dollars into these schemes , and laundering much of it buying political loyalty , people themselves be damned.
Anonymous: “AR-15” has become almost a generic term to describe different types of semi-automatic weapons. According to the Washington Post Salvador Ramos purchased a semi-automatic at local gun store on May 17, bought 375 rounds of ammunition and the next day went back to the same store and bought a second weapon. According to other news reports the weapons Ramos bought were 2 Model DDM4V7 weapons similar to the AR-15 and manufactured in the US. Is it really important what rifle Ramos used in killing those 19 kids or how he acquired it?
You bizarrely claim Ramos was “an illegal alien, mentally unstable, and had associations with MS13”. What is your evidence for such a claim? Probably your own “mis and disinfo” you get from conspiracy theory websites. Or, maybe, from right-wing conspiracy nut Rep. Paul Gosar from AZ. He says Ramos was a “transsexual leftist illegal alien”. The only part you missed adding is the “transsexual” claim. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has confirmed Ramos was a US citizen–born in North Dakota There is no indication so far Ramos suffered from any mental disorders or anything about his political affiliations. He didn’t leave a “manifesto” like the shooter in the massacre of Black people in Buffalo.
I think you should do a better job of fact checking and not rely on conspiracy theories to spew out all sorts of racist disinformation nonsense! Otherwise, I am going to report you to Jonathan Turley!
Right, there was no “manifesto” like the shooter in Buffalo. Curious, isn’t it, about that “manifesto”? Did you see the reporting that Federal agents were in an online chat room with the 18 year old Buffalo shooter for months, with one “retired” agent having a 30 minute heads up on the shooting? No? Well that’s not surprising.
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/authorities-investigating-if-retired-federal-agent-knew-of-buffalo-mass-shooting-plans-in-advance/article_bd408f18-dd39-11ec-be53-df8fdd095d6f.html
Yes, I claim there is a lot of erroneous and false reporting around the shooting. I claim that Ramos was “an illegal alien, mentally unstable, and had associations with MS13.” Not a convenient media narrative, is it? Hopefully this information eventually comes out in the reporting, bc I will not reveal my source here. In fact, my source claims not only was Ramos associated with MS13; he was a documented member. As for Texas Gov. Abbott, he has confirmed that he himself was fed an awful lot of misinformation about the shooting and that he is “livid.”
Anonymous: I agree. There is a lot of misinformation about what happened in Uvalde. Even Gov. Abbott says he was misled. For example, why did it take 48″ for the police to get the master key to open the door where Ramos was busy killing school children? Other questions persist. And what about my challenge that you back up your claims re Ramos? You say you cannot “reveal my source here, In fact, my source claims not only was Ramos associated with MS13; he was a documented member”. Really? So without revealing your “source” provide us with a copy of a document that shows Ramos’ “documented” membership in MS13. I always laugh when people say they can prove this or that. But when confronted they fall back on the excuse that they cannot reveal their “source”. This is how conspiracy theories proliferate. They say the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So either reveal your source, provide some documentation or refrain from claims you cannot back up with facts!
I agree. But again, how did this kid get the money for the guns? It’s a lot of hours flipping burgers at Wendy’s to save the thousands needed to buy guns, ammo, gear, etc. Did he buy the guns? Did he pass a background check? I know the reporting says he did. But many questions remain. The grandfather he was living with was a convicted felon and having firearms in the home is illegal. Wouldn’t that address be flagged in a background check for this kid? Where did this kid get firearms training? It’s no small feat to unload that many rounds when you are inexperienced in shooting. Why did it take so long to stop him? Their stories from the scene keep changing, timelines provided don’t make sense. Gov. Abbot was not accurately informed. Doubtful the full story will ever come out. The whole thing stinks. So to believe the kid was an associated with MS13 is not far fetched at all.
It is odd how a 18yr old dropout with only a part time fast food job had the money to buy two high end rifles , dozens of magazines , optics and over a thousand rds of ammo in this day and age of inflated prices ( thank you joey biden ) . Why did a teacher admit to propping a door open and leaving it so…but we don’t have that teachers name ?. Why did the Uvalde PD and it’s own swat team disregard all their training and fantastically drop the ball here?. This whole mess smells to high heaven. And our carnival barking potus goes out and uses this as a poltical distraction…right on cue…imagine that.
“Is it really important what rifle Ramos used in killing those 19 kids or how he acquired it?”
Yes, it is. It is equally important to report whether or not it was in fact a rifle that he used.
Dennis ; You are a broken record , one trick pony. If you refuse to recognize the damage the govt & the prog left has done to American families , American society , race relations etc etc , you are then equally part of the problem…not the solution in any way. You refuse to see the forest for the trees. Left wing progism is devoid of morality , worships abortion , has equity over quality of outcomes as a tenant of their “Religion of govt is the almighty”. The progs and govt dont want citizens , they want cogs & sheep…… it’s all about management of the designed decline. Tens of millions of votes more than there are legal voters and we have installed a senile puppet as potus. A govt fully controlled by those in the shadows with a figurehead of ineptitude – they dont care…it’s their way or no way and they have been open about this new world order virus they are so willing to sell us out for.
Over at Althouse, she juxtaposes the Heller decision with the Uvalde massacre.
Here is a bit of Breyers logic in Heller.
<>
Uvalde has proven that notion to be wrong. There are a lot of reasons the Government(police) no longer do the service they were created to provide. But the border is wide open, and SWAT teams are stymied by a school door.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2022/05/when-specially-equipped-federal.html
For some reason this quote did not copy over.
This if from Breyer’s Heller decision.
Insofar as the Framers focused at all on the tiny fraction of the population living in large cities, they would have been aware that these city dwellers were subject to firearm restrictions that their rural counterparts were not. They are unlikely then to have thought of a right to keep loaded handguns in homes to confront intruders in urban settings as central. And the subsequent development of modern urban police departments, by diminishing the need to keep loaded guns nearby in case of intruders, would have moved any such right even further away from the heart of the amendment’s more basic protective ends.
Maybe its just me, but coming from blatant liars who pushed the Covid threat and kill-shot “solution”, have been lying to us about finance and what the giant banks/Fed Reserve are doing to totally rip us off and try to push for a world government/currency, and how both sides pretend to be anti-warish, yet keep funding bogus wars of hegemony, but I simply cannot believe ANYTHING that comes from any segment of national government.
Yes.. the victims deserve more from us… there are other layers here that no one seems to be addressing.. like the constant stream of movies, TV series, Internet games, global news, etc., etc. that expose and program everyone to violence and guns every day.. This is the real fuel to this problem, not the 2nd Amendment, which is there to allow us to protect ourselves against foreign invaders…. We have Open Borders now.. there are all kinds of peoples waltzing into the USA.. no one seems to be addressing the potential dangers there, either, like enemies setting up cells in the USA… Back to the ‘Entertainment’ Industry.. the great body of work with guns and violence is what makes it possible for a teen-ager to even know about these firearms in the first place, i.e., it is not the 2nd Amendment which teaches teen-agers about AR-15’s….We also need to stop the recent blocking of law enforcement ever since ‘georgefloydanddefundthepolice…’ to allow them to take swifter action….Bottom-line, there are many components we need to address..
Trump read each name followed by the ring of a bell….(which IMO, means an angel got their wings)
https://rumble.com/v16d5ck-watch-moment-of-silence-as-president-trump-reads-names-of-uvalde-victims.html
Watch this video to understand why a good guy with a gun in the right place, when seconds matter, can save many lives.
Jack Wilson, who acted quickly to save his fellow congregants from a mass shooter at West Freeway Church of Christ was honored by President Trump at the NRA convention.
Amy Klobuchar
@amyklobuchar
If 18-year-olds can’t buy alcohol they sure shouldn’t be able to buy an AK-47. CHANGE THE LAW.
How can a Yale Grad, with a law degree from University of Chicago, be so stupid….Oh wait…She’s not this stupid is she…..Noooooo. But she knows the people that vote for her are. Just. This. Stupid.
If a 6 year old can decide they want a sex change, then yes, an 18 year old can buy a firearm.
I agree that this is hypocritical on the part of wokesters, but the answer is that children should not be allowed to decide to “transition,” not that 18-year olds should be allowed to buy semi-automatic rifles.
I am skeptical that the 9th circuit opinion declaring an age limit of 21 unconstitutional would survive Supreme Court review, even by this court. Such a limit might not be a bad idea. I’d be interested in knowing what percentage of crimes using semi-automatic rifles are committed by those under 21, and how many of those obtained their guns lawfully.
RE:”If 18-year-olds can’t buy alcohol they sure shouldn’t be able to buy an AK-47. CHANGE THE LAW.”…..’Verrry interrresting…..but stupid!”
Agreed it’s very flawed logic. If they want to ban 18 year old citizens from firearms , they need to make 21 the new 18. That is nobody can join the armed forces until 21 , cant vote until 21 and so on. But the 21 to vote would have the left in a dither as they love to exploit young skulls full of mush. And the industrial military complex would have a cow at not getting cannon fodder until 21…a much harder age to indoctrinate or get to serve willingly.
1 year ago, at this very week, The mayor of Uvalde was interviewed by Tucker. He said the wide open border had turned his town into the wild west. Sometimes 2 to3 high speed chases by border patrol, a day, and two school lock downs a week.
Sounds like the town was suffering from eminent danger burnout. It had become so routine, the school personnel had gotten complacent. It doesn’t absolve them, just answers a lot of whys.
This is the unseen price of Biden’s open border policy. 100,000 fentenyl poisonings, and now 19 children, and two teachers. Dead.
Yep, and the worst is yet to come.
https://usawatchdog.com/mysterious-vax-deaths-gun-control-diversion-food-crisis/
Professor Turley,
I find it incongruous that you are a free speech absolutist but not a second amendment absolutist. Are some rights, guaranteed and granted by God, more sacred than others?
The right to speak freely is necessary in the United States, as you often point out. We can use it to address our representatives with our desires and concerns. We can worship as we see fit. We can say the most asinine things imaginable, yet only suffer the scorn of those who hear or read our words.
I’m sure that you’d agree that the right to free speech extends beyond movable type and the quill to modern methods of communication, why would the right to self defense be any different? At the time of the founding of our Nation, civilians had possession of the most modern and devastating arms and armament available. The Founders knew this to be necessary, not only to “keep the new government in check”, but to defend the Nation against outside threats. That same right, the RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE to keep and bear arms, should be continued in the modern era.
Contrary to popular belief, you can legally possess a machine gun, short barreled rifle/shotgun, or suppressor. The only barrier is money and the processing of paperwork through the ATF. We can legally own tanks, fighter jets, and grenade launchers, once again, the only barrier is money. Our current gun laws are a direct assault on our second amendment rights. The right to defend yourself with superior weaponry is only afforded to the affluent or politically connected. All gun laws are an infringement on our God given right of self defense.
What needs to be done, is that we as a nation need to address the growing mental health issue in our country. Schools and workplaces need to have trained staff who can recognize a person in crisis and who can direct that person to someone who can help them with their needs. Until we can stop demonizing the tools of death and murder, we will never solve the problem of mass murder.
RE:”I find it incongruous that you are a free speech absolutist but not a second amendment absolutist.” In this, accommodations are required on both side, both with the rights to privacy, the right to bear arms, and the right of the ordinary citizen to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, unencumbered and unafraid. . Our society and culture has evolved to a point wherein it should be recognized and accepted by both camps that certain individuals should be prohibited from having access to firearms or weapons of any kind for that matter, and certain individuals should be forever barred from walking free amongst us. Until a meeting of the minds and agreements in those areas, among many others, are reached, and the processes are initiated to achieve those ends, children and adults will continue to die. When will society’s level of tolerance be exceeded in order to begin?
Jonathon is right. The self defense right from God or the natural right of self defense right to life comes from beyond government. King George lll sought to strip us of the right to keep and bear arms. That right reaches a George lll, and any other government tyranny. Biden admits a fatal failure or refusal to understand that by serial references to deer hunting. The Cliven Bundy standoff in 2014 is a classic example of how this works.
What we need- badly- is a consensus- in this age of rage- on what we can do to keep the finger off the trigger. Not attack the trigger.
If Michael Moore thinks the US was “birthed in violence”, I invite him to learn about the history of the Mohawk, Aztec, and other peace loving hippy cultures that predated European colonization. Violence was ubiquitous in human history…animal history…insect history.
WITH REGARD TO RED FLAG LAWS, after watching the Democrats try to frame a President of the United States by having party and federal officials commit a chain of coordinated crimes, I’m not interested in suspending any part of due process under any circumstances short of war.
Just a few years ago, the UN Charter called it a crime to force anybody to take a drug against their will. After watching Australian and Canadian police beat down citizens for not wanting to be injected with a drug, I’m not interested in any curtailment of U.S. protections. We’ve already surrendered too much.
If the left takes your guns, they won’t protect you. They’ll blame you. The only thing leftism has ever produced in abundance is scapegoats.