cb1000rider wrote:VMI77 wrote:
I have to disagree about the diagnosis of mental disorders. A doctor should not unilaterally have the power to deny someone a Constitutional right. The only way anyone should be stripped of their right to bear arms is by a full hearing in a court of law. And if the government loses it should have to pay the costs of the defendant whose rights it was trying to strip.
Give that power to one or perhaps a series of doctors and we'll have fewer gun deaths at the cost of constitutional rights. Fewer gun deaths could lead to the re-granting of the rights that we're already guaranteed.
Think we have a 2nd amendment right? Try carrying a shotgun through the neighborhood and see what happens. Also, we're going to have to compromise. Two sides that pick "their way" and are unwilling to make any compromise around the edges are doomed to gridlock and lack of progress. Choosing lack of progress can certainly be strategic, but if we really want change, some compromise is necessary. And discussion with people that we don't agree with is necessary too.
I guess I'm saying that we've already lost the constitutional right. Demonstrations don't work. Legislation seems to work - you've got to explicitly define what is OK. I'd trade the possibility that a doctor could take away my right to purchase a new gun (not my right to own one) for a little more carry flexibility in terms of what I can realistically carry.
Is this any different than what is already being asked for on the background check when purchasing one? I believe there is a question about being treated for a mental health condition.
BTW, I'm surprised to see you criticize the Republican party... I don't disagree with most of your points, I'm just a little surprised.
I haven't had much taste for the Republican party since the party establishment tried to sink Goldwater and Reagan. But at least back then the establishment made some concessions to its base. Now the establishment RINOs are in-your-face antithetical to the principles the Party has supposedly represented. Insane McCain, McRomneycare, lyin' Ryan, give me a break. What it amounts to now is nothing more than a bunch of old psychopaths and sociopaths willing to do anything to keep themselves in power and their recent display over the shutdown was absolutely revolting. I'm for defunding it and only supporting those candidates who are willing to stand on principle and represent their base.
You know what they say though, all politics are local. In that sense, and in your optimistic sense that something can be achieved through legislation, our only hope is the House, where there still are a few sensible Democrats and enough sensible Republicans to at least block some of the bad stuff. The Senate is a complete loss. We've got these RINO's eating their own young in order to keep their decrepit hands grasping the rungs of power. We've got the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States in power and the Senate Republicans, and some of the house, have done nothing but cower before The One, obfuscate, and participate in political theater --thereby surrendering all moral authority. Some want to retain their power at any cost, some are afraid to be called names by the Dems and their MSM water carriers; only a handful represent the people that elected them. And what a truly pathetic spectacle it is to see those afraid of being labeled racists and Tea Partiers tuck their tails between their legs and whimper while being called seditionists, traitors, and terrorists.
I have to disagree with you about compromise and background checks. Compromise is no longer possible because as you allude to yourself, we've already given so much away that "compromise" can only mean concession. To the libs compromise means letting them have their way. The only thing they ever offer in return is letting us keep what little piece of the cake we have left for a little longer.
On background checks...I can't see anyway the anti-gun people are going to let someone who is prohibited from buying a new gun keep the ones they already have. It's much more likely that they'll come take YOUR guns when your spouse, or other family member living in your home, is prohibited from buying guns. I agree we don't have a right to keep and bear arms....what we have is temporary permission, in some parts of the country, to keep and bear arms. I agree that demonstrations don't work....they're nothing more than political theater promoting the illusion that politicians care what the electorate thinks. It helps keep people docile to let them believe they have any role in this so called "democracy." Voting doesn't work anymore either, at the national level. Voting, for now, can still influence what happens at the local level --at least if you don't live somewhere where voting has been marginalized by one faction or the other (note, I don't say side, or Party here, but faction, as in which particular group or family is vying for more power within the criminal enterprise).
I don't share your optimism. We're locked on course on a path that only leads into the abyss, and the psychos running the show are putting the pedal to the metal. The current system cannot be changed enough to avert catastrophe, and even if it could, there is no will to do it, either from the majority of the population or our rulers. The only thing we can do is be the best people we can be and prepare ourselves and our families for what is coming. But while the outcome is pretty certain, the timing is not. How long can this debt system continue? No one knows or can predict when the system will implode. Could be ten years from now, or even longer, or it could be just about anytime, depending on unpredictable events.