Good. It's a pity more Senators didn't agree with him. Maybe some Columbine and Sacramento school kids would still be alive.
Do you agree that every American has a right to bear arms, Rex? Do you believe that that right should be taxed? Do you believe in waiting periods to be able to exercise your right? Do you believe that you should have a waiting period for free speech? Should your speech be taxed?
Kerry has never been against sportsmen or hunting. He has voted against military assault rifles for sure, which are not used for hunting game, but for killing people. From http://www.johnkerry.com/communities/sportsmen/ John Kerry: A Strong Supporter of Sportsmen’s Rights to Hunt and Fish A Lifelong Hunter and Supports Sportsmen’s Rights John Kerry is a strong supporter of sportsmen’s rights and is a lifelong hunter having learned the sport at a young age. Kerry, who remains an avid hunter, recently had his enjoyment of hunting described by a newspaper: “John Kerry eats dove. Even better, he shoots them. From behind the stalks of a Southern cornfield, he'll watch them flutter and dart, and fire. ‘You might eat it at a picnic, cold roasted. I love dove. Dove, quail, duck, deer.’ Kerry described how to hunt and gut them, talking as he sliced through a steak at midnight after campaigning all day in Iowa for the Democratic presidential nomination.” [Hartford Courant, 7/9/03; Washington Post, 6/1/03] Supports the Second Amendment & Will Defend Hunting Rights John Kerry is a gun owner and he believes in the right to bear arms. During his announcement speech, Kerry emphasized his strong belief in the Second Amendment by saying bluntly: “I’m a hunter and I believe in the Second Amendment.” Additionally, Kerry has said he will work to defend hunting rights. “I enjoy going hunting. I'm prepared to stand up and defend common sense on guns.” [Kerry remarks at Mt. Pleasant, SC 9/2/03; ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, 11/10/02] Supports Greater Land Conservation for Hunting and Fishing In the Senate, John Kerry has worked for greater conservation of land to allow for more hunting and fishing. Kerry cosponsored the “Conservation and Stewardship Act” to provide up to $5 million for land conservation and acquisition including increased space for hunting and fishing. Kerry has also supported the “Northern Forest Stewardship Act” to provide more forest acreage for sporting purposes. Finally, Kerry has voted for greater hunting opportunities on federal land such as the large military installations with designated hunting zones. [106th Congress, S. 2181; 105th Congress, S. 546; 104th Congress, S. 1163; Senate Roll Call vote, 1999 #284 Kerry supports the second amendment and can distinguish between sporting uses of guns from the uncontrolled gun policies of the NRA which have resulted in assault rifles being available to children and criminals. From John Kerry: The Field and Stream Interview "Yeah, because the NRA has a silly kind of methodology that doesn’t make any sense. I’m a gun owner. I’m a hunter—I’ve been a hunter all my life. But I vote for reasonable things. I mean, I just think the Brady Bill is reasonable. They [the NRA] score that a zero. Having assault weapons reasonably regulated is intelligent. I mean, I’ve never thought about going hunting with an assault weapon of war. If you want to wield one of those, then go join the military. I think you can protect the rights of sportsmen, protect the rights of people to bear arms. I believe in the Second Amendment. You know, we’ve had these laws on the books for 10 years or more: Nobody has ever tried to take anyone’s guns away. It’s just phoniness, an absolute phoniness to the arguments they make.And I’m never going to vote to take away guns. I never have. I never sponsored anything to suggest that. But at the same time, with the right to own a gun comes responsibility. Everybody who owns a gun knows that. You don’t want them falling into the hands of kids; you don’t want them falling into the hands of criminals. Every law enforcement agency in the country supported restraints on assault weapons. The NRA, in fact, stands against the law enforcement entities of our country. And I think there is something completely out of whack when that becomes the measurement and you, quote, "get an F" from people fighting law enforcement and who called the ATF jack-booted thugs. I just can’t understand that. George Herbert Walker Bush resigned from the NRA because of that comment about jack-booted thugs. So I think there is a level of reasonableness here that we have to assert. I am better for sportsmen because I will preserve the environment, I will preserve the roadless rule, I’ll have more thoughtful preservation of wildlife and fishing than George Bush would ever have. He’s busy destroying wetlands critical to spawning grounds. When you start running through the list of things, I’ll tell you, I think my record is much stronger."
Answers I agree that every American has a right to bear arms as part of a well-regulated militia. Gun ownership in this country is not well-regulated. I believe that using a hunting argument to defend the ownership of semi-automatic weapons is spurious. Where's the sport in shooting defenseless creatures with such technology? No, speech should not be taxed. Owning a gun is not speech.
Yeah, right. You should go join the kook militias in Montana if you are afraid of government tyranny. Or maybe the Branch Davidians. And, incidentally, whenever anybody resorts to insults just because someone disagrees with him, I know that he has exhausted his logic, is incapable of discourse, and can be safely ignored in the future.
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." It does not say that the people must be involved in the militia to bear arms. It says that , "Since a well regulated Militia is necessary to our security, the people must have the right to keep and bear arms". You are playing with words to suit your purpose. If an ad-hoc militia needs to be formed, and the people cannot bear arms effectively due to stupid taxation and waiting periods, then we will have a problem in this country. Agreed. No qualms here, although I would remove semi- from your quote. Pistols and rifles that don't require cocking (repeated presses of the trigger are all that is necessary for continued firing) are considered semiautomatic weapons. There is no holding down of the trigger and spraying streams of bullets with those weapons. Unalienable rights should not be taxed or have waiting periods imposed on them. You know that was my point. How would you feel if you had to wait 3 days to post to a message board or get a license to post? It should be illegal, however, for convicted felons and persons under the age of 18 to own a gun.
OK, I'll accept that. You're off the ignore list. I see the point you are trying to make, but you're way out there in right field. Anarchy in America is really far-fetched, there is no basis to believe that chaos would ensure from terrorists attacks here. They just don't have that much power over us. They can kill a few thousand at a time and it would embarrass us and hurt our pride and make us very angry, but it wouldn't come close to destroying the economic, moral, and political fiber of the country. The Soviets couldn't even have done that and they had 3,000 nuclear warheads to hit us with. I'm a moderate, by the way, not a liberal, just voting democratic this time around. "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in Americanism." -- Huey Long
yes but the soviets never successfully attacked us on our homeland. One 'little' smallpox attack here could kill quite a few more than just a thousand or two. If you think a biological attack of that type isn't legit and a pressing threat then I suppose its easier to sleep that way. If a threat like that would occur here I can't even imagine the effects it would have on the mindset/economy. We were crippled long enough after 9/11. The moral/political/economical fiber of this country is bad enough already. Moral and political should never be linked in the same breath.
it doesn't take alot to overthrow a Gov. Look at History Red. Look at the fall of communism, the fall of rome. A small military coup can hold a whole citizenry hostage if done right. I sincerely hope that would never happen. All I'm saying is this, this is america, feel safe and secure, but watch your back becuase generally like 9-11, you don't feel the steel till it's hangin out your back. Save Gun ownership. Vote Republican.
