Monday, December 10, 2012

Tutorial: How To Talk Of the Bill of Rights...

...the way a gun control advocate talks of the Second Amendment:

These days, gun control advocates, knowing that they lost the argument when the Supreme Court made its historic Heller and MacDonald decisions affirming that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, give lip service to the Second Amendment when they argue for gun control. They take their cue from President Obama, who will say things like "I support the Second Amendment, but believe there are common-sense measures we can take, blah blah blah." That but is the point at which they stop lying and begin telling the truth:

I support the Second Amendment, but... don't think anyone "needs" an "assault weapon."

I support the Second Amendment, but... think we need to close the gun show loophole (i.e., ban the private sale of guns between individuals).

I support the Second Amendment, but... don't think anyone should own more than 100 rounds of ammunition.


You see how this works. In the first half of a statement you mention the particular article of the Bill of Rights that you intend to trample in the second half of the statement. Let's try a few of our own, using other parts of the Bill of Rights:

I support the First Amendment (right to free speech), but... think that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a blithering idiot that needs to be ball-gagged.

I support the First Amendment (right to freedom of religion), but... not for Muslims. Those people are a menace.

I support the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment), but... think that Piers Morgan should be tarred, feathered, and ridden out of the United States on a rail.


You see how it works. The next time you're in a debate with a gun grabber, recognize it and turn it against him in the same way.

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