03-30-2018, 09:42 AM
(03-30-2018, 09:08 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I'll repeat again, unless this guy was shooting kids from 100 yds out, he could have done the same thing or worse with a .45 and extra magazines which can be switched out in under 5 seconds.
Sure, but to me that's immaterial. The fact that so few people are killed with long guns of any kind, much less "assaulty weapons", means arguments to ban them are inane.
(03-30-2018, 09:26 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: He has a sound argument in his opinion piece. While I don't agree the Second should be repealed (amended, maybe), I don't see a big problem with his opinion piece.
The argument being sound or not is not the issue, the fact that he's advocating for what gun owners have long suspected the anti-gun side wants, is. As I said, they got over excited and let the mask slip. Bad move on their part.
Quote:While I have been one defending the ability for these kids to speak out and allowing them to do so, I've not been one putting a ton of stock into what they have been saying. The argument from the NRA and its allies has been that these are young people that do not have a full understanding of policy and the law, they are emotional because of events, and that because of this their opinions on gun control should not be taken seriously. Are you now suggesting that we should take them seriously and attribute their opinions to that of the entire liberal half of the country?
I don't take them seriously at all. I remember how ill informed I was at that age and how much I didn't even realize I didn't know. But whether you or I take them seriously is not the point, the fact that so many others do is the point. The anti-gun side has painted themselves into a corner with these kids. On one hand they claim extraordinary moral high ground with them and claim they are the figureheads of a huge movement. On the other hand they have to contend with the inevitable missteps these kids will make in the public arena. You can't simultaneously ascribe near sainthood on these kids and then dismiss their comments as the words of children when they put their foot in their mouths.
Quote:Is it a lie? Why should I care what Larry King's opinion on this is more than anyone else? Is he an expert on policy? Is he a policy maker? Running for office? In party leadership?
You're much smarter than this, Matt. We've reached the point were celebrities are openly calling for repeal of the 2nd. I'll reiterate the above point, you can't use celebrities to make political points, which the left does consistently, and then dismiss them when they make a point that is less than politically expedient.
Quote:You and I have discussed the ignorance of many people, including adults when it comes to their attempts to look at things like these. But I wouldn't consider what you quoted there as what people discuss when they say "common sense gun laws." By the article's own title, this is a manifesto from the Parkland students, so see my Parkland commentary above.
And please again refer to my response. Either these kids are your figurehead or they aren't. The anti-gun types shackled their wagon to these horses, they can't complain about where the horses lead them. When one of them openly states that "you give us an inch we'll taker a mile" it only confirms what gun owners have long claimed, that they should surrender no ground and never compromise. Who knew using teenagers as your spokespeople would have drawbacks?
Quote:As has been pointed out, you are ascribing what has been said by a minority to the whole liberal base. I can guarantee you that what is being presented here would not get support by most of the liberal base. When people talk about the "coastal elite" bubble of liberalism, this is the group they are talking about (though Stevens is a difficult read politically, since he refuses to talk politics). But that's not even the majority, that is just who tends to talk the most.
Ahh, here's the crux of it, and why the Democratic party is scrambling on this issue now. Outside the coastal bubbles gun ownership is a hot button issue, gun owners vote. The Dems are now seeing any hope of a "blue wave" crash well short of shore as they have, inadvertently, made gun control the cause de celebre of the mid term elections. The media propped these kids up as avatars of change, the Democratic party held them up as the crest of a wave. They got the anti-gun side excited and they predictably overreached.
These arguments don't resonate with you because you're a rational person who doesn't let celebrity or mob opinion sway you. Unfortunately, many people are immensely susceptible to this.
