For John, BLUF: Not everyone in "Hollywood" is against guns. Nothing to see here; just move along.
Playwright David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross (1984), Speed-the-Plow (1988), The Verdict (1982) and Wag the Dog (1997))♠ talks about the Second Amendment at The Daily Beast. He is for it.
The title of his piece is "Gun Laws and the Fools of Chelm".
My grandmother came from Russian Poland, near the Polish city of Chelm. Chelm was celebrated, by the Ashkenazi Jews, as the place where the fools dwelt. And my grandmother loved to tell the traditional stories of Chelm.Yes, laws don't seem to control those who have guns illegally or guns for illegal purposes. Thus, the question is, once all the legal guns are out of the houses, then what?Its residents, for example, once decided that there was no point in having the sun shine during the day, when it was light out—it would be better should it shine at night, when it was dark. Similarly, we modern Solons delight in passing gun laws that, in their entirety, amount to “making crime illegal.”
What possible purpose in declaring schools “gun-free zones”? Who bringing a gun, with evil intent, into a school would be deterred by the sign?
Ah, but perhaps one, legally carrying a gun, might bring it into the school.
Good.
The police do not exist to protect the individual. They exist to cordon off the crime scene and attempt to apprehend the criminal. We individuals are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to self-defense. This right is not the Government’s to “award” us. They have never been granted it.I like this quote, for speaking the truth of the situation. And, someone else EMailed it to me. However, let us give the police their due. The police have a powerful deterrent effect. The presence of a policeman on the beat is a deterrent to crime and thus a safeguard to the citizen. However, the police have no "duty" to protect the average citizen. And we are not willing to pay the taxes and carry the political burden of having it any other way than it is. We don't wish to have a Stasi like police organization in our nation.
In the end, do we wish to go to firearms confiscation via a house-to-house search? I would hope not, since that would (1) shred more of the US Constitution and (2) leave us with only cold steel, until that too was confiscated.
And, the interesting thing is, while firearms help people feel protected, confiscation helps the Government feel protected, and that is why we have a Second Amendment. It is an educational device for helping the Government to understand that there are limits.♥
Regards — Cliff
♠ Doesn't sound like a George W Bush Republican to me.
♥ The Bill introduced by Senator Diane Feinstein will provide exemptions for Government Officials and police, so Government Officials must be a different class of people from police. One wonders who they are. Given the way Capitol Hill operates they could be anybody.
A few slight corrections. Police presence DOES deter crime.....but they MUST be actually present. A policeman 5 minutes away is not...I repeat...NOT a deterrent. I would extend that to include the fact that police carry arms to protect themselves from the criminal element......not to protect you and I. That is because to actually protect you and I with their weapon, they would have to BE THERE to render that protection.
ReplyDeleteFeinstein wants Federal officials exempted because they become the government enforcers. This is why NON-police Departments have been buying weapons and ammunition in staggering quantities with the same rapidity that has been the hallmark of "civilian" gun purchases. Why do these agency personnel need to have a gun.....like Commerce or EPA...or the FDA....or Transportation?? Well....they become the auxiliary enforcers of the gigantic gun grab most leftists are pushing to occur. Of course, it is a happy coincidence that Obama and his henchmen want the same thing....but for different reasons. Imagine the shock and awe of Russian citizen elites when they discovered that Lenin and Stalin didn't really care about them at all.
England long ago succumbed to the liberal mania that infect American society today. We will shortly go the route of England and we will make the same discovery. GUN violence will go down....but violence will remain and in fact, increase...as has been the case in England...one of the most violent of the European societies. Most illuminating is that criminals in England....and other "no gun zone" European nations....still use guns. But WAIT!!!! Those are illegal. Geez.....that is what defines "criminals and their activity"....they violate laws. Shocking revelation.
I wonder if when Cain slew Abel, there was a liberal standing by who was horrified that Utopia was not immediately in the offing.