this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Pity the mass shooting victims didn't have the right to live their lives without being gunned down by a psycopath.
They do have that right actually, which is why we punish those who take those rights away. Just because it's illegal doesn't mean people can't break the laws
Really? The pro-gun community doesn't seem to think so. Without fail, they demand the right for people to legally own firearms despite a long history of red flags, in direct opposition to people's right to life and liberty.
70% of mass shooters are legal gun owners, with most of the remaining being people who took a family members legally owned (and legally poorly secured) firearm.
Pro-gun groups spend millions ensuring this doesn't change. Where is their punishment? They have record profits and convenient access to a hobby at the clear expense of people's right to life.
And I know the bleated response; an immediate othering with "but those are law-abiding gun owners, you can't punish them".
But it's bullshit. Most mass shooters fit the definition of "law abiding gun owner" right up to the minute they start firing into crowds. If a group is responsible for nearly three quarters of domestic terrorists and is unwilling or unable to lower that figure, society has a duty to put a stop to it.
It's also disingenuous to claim responsibility for an act starts and ends with the murderer. We're not blind, we can see the people who continue to enable gun violence.
Where do illegal firearms come from? Legal gun owners who leave handguns in their gloveboxes. Who blocks expanded checks and red flag laws that would have prevented mass shooters from buying semi-automatic weapons on a whim? Republican politicians who take millions from the gun-lobby. Who supports Republicans and the gun-lobby for exactly that reason? The pro-gun community.
And surprise surprise, it's the same groups that routinely strips other people of their rights without a glimmer of guilt or self awareness.
Yes really, I'm part of that pro gun community, I own some myself. In the US, we have certain rights that are in our constitution, like the right to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, a trial by jury, and along with all those is the right to bear arms. It was so important to early America it's the second amendment, right behind free speech.
Just having a gun, or any item that is also a weapon really, doesn't oppose the right to live. Both exist, it's illegal to kill someone with your fists, a knife, a bat, or a gun, it doesn't matter what tool is used.
So they aren't law abiding? Glad we can agree on that. Yes it's legal to carry a gun around as long as you don't go shooting random people with it, what's the point? I carry a pocket knife everywhere I go, that's also legal also as long as I don't go stabbing people.
So about red flag laws. Should red flags prevent the ability to practice a right? I'm not mentioning any specific right because constitutionally they all have the same protections. If it's illegal to use two flags to prevent free speech, it's illegal to use it for any other right, that's how rights work.
The people wanting to single out one right are destroying the integrity of the most important document in US history. There are correct ways to do it, but they aren't being done, instead they are trying to do things unconstitutionally. Removing a right is hard, and requires agreement, and there isn't enough support to do it so the left resorts to unconstitutional methods and the right fights to stop it.
I'm also against the recent movements to remove stuff like the right to abortion, but I was honestly shocked to see how weak the argument that made abortion a "right" was. Did you know how the original Roe V Wade decision was made?
It starts with the 14th amendment, known as the amendment that gave citizenship to anyone born in the USA, and providing them equal protection under the law. There is one line in the 14th amendment that reads "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law". The supreme court decided that one little phrase gives us the implied right of privacy. From that right to privacy, they determined that means we also have the right to abortion, but only some abortion, no late term abortion.
So not surprising it was a very controversial decision that many saw as the right result in the wrong way. I'm honestly surprised it lasted 50 years.