Ragnar Danneskjold
Member
A lot of the recent threads since Sandy Hook have made me think about some common and disturbing themes I'm seeing. The first is the apparent willingness of some gun owners to let the antis divide us into groups that are easier to conquer. Particularly regarding "mental health".
Consider felons. As it stands persons convicted of felonies may not vote (though in 48 states they can try to get their voting rights back) and may not possess firearms. That sounds fine when you think of felonies as violent destructive crimes like murder, rape, armed robbery, etc. There is of course the opinion that if one has served their time in prison, once that debt has been paid their rights should be restored. That is my personal view. But the common belief in the general public and even among gun owners is that felons should not be able to possess firearms. The problem from that is fundamental: what is a felony and who decides who fits the description? The government. This is particularly distressing in that voting and firearms are two of the most important methods citizens have to control their government. And yet anyone who fits the "felon" description loses these rights, and thus has no say in how the government works.
The fundamental problem lies in that the government can then pass laws to make all sorts of things felonies, and ever increase the amount of citizens who have lost their rights. They've divided the country into two groups: "Allowed guns and voting" and "not allowed guns or voting" and they can decide on a whim who fits into what group. Felonies are no longer extreme crimes like rape, murder, arson, etc. Now it includes everything from shoplifting items over a certain value to downloading music or software without a license. Even file sharing can cause someone to lose gun rights forever. The danger in this is very frightening. If the government feels too many people have guns, all they have to do is declare a few more things to be felonies and then those people lose their rights. And their rights to vote on it to appeal their fate.
And now we're talking about letting them do that with mental health issues. People on this very forum are actively considering creating lists and databases of people who lose their gun rights if some doctor, psychiatrist, or panel decides they are mentally unfit. The creation of yet another "no guns allowed" box that anyone can be tossed into when the powers that be deem fit. Who knows where it could lead. Hold certain political beliefs? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Disagree with homosexuality? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Believe in creationism or some other religious doctrine? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Sure they won't make it as plain and obvious as that. But who's to say that "individualistic tendencies" or "distrust of authority" won't get warped into "paranoia" and thus label someone mentally unfit to have certain Constitutional rights for life.
And hand in hand with letting the antis divide us is us dividing ourselves and selling each other out. I'm simply aghast that there are THR members who agree with restricting First Amendment rights such as video games in order to preserve their gun collections. Or hunters who are OK with banning AR15s so long as they get to keep their wood stock bolt gun. Revolver shooters who are totally willing to sell out semi auto owners and agree with a magazine limit just as long as their wheelguns are safe for another few years.
We cannot let the antis divide us. And we cannot divide ourselves. The antis will take all of our rights little by little, inch by inch as the decades go by. They have patience. They don't mind waiting, as long as we keep losing a little bit at a time. The "I don't care if you restrict someone else or take what they have, as long as you leave me and mine alone for now" attitude is going to ruin us all.
"Shall not be infringed" means exactly that. Stop selling each other out to keep what you have. And stop buying into the "we're only going to take guns from the felons/mentally unfit/______" line of BS that the antis keep selling us. Because before long, YOU will fit into that ______ and you won't have any way to fight it.
Consider felons. As it stands persons convicted of felonies may not vote (though in 48 states they can try to get their voting rights back) and may not possess firearms. That sounds fine when you think of felonies as violent destructive crimes like murder, rape, armed robbery, etc. There is of course the opinion that if one has served their time in prison, once that debt has been paid their rights should be restored. That is my personal view. But the common belief in the general public and even among gun owners is that felons should not be able to possess firearms. The problem from that is fundamental: what is a felony and who decides who fits the description? The government. This is particularly distressing in that voting and firearms are two of the most important methods citizens have to control their government. And yet anyone who fits the "felon" description loses these rights, and thus has no say in how the government works.
The fundamental problem lies in that the government can then pass laws to make all sorts of things felonies, and ever increase the amount of citizens who have lost their rights. They've divided the country into two groups: "Allowed guns and voting" and "not allowed guns or voting" and they can decide on a whim who fits into what group. Felonies are no longer extreme crimes like rape, murder, arson, etc. Now it includes everything from shoplifting items over a certain value to downloading music or software without a license. Even file sharing can cause someone to lose gun rights forever. The danger in this is very frightening. If the government feels too many people have guns, all they have to do is declare a few more things to be felonies and then those people lose their rights. And their rights to vote on it to appeal their fate.
And now we're talking about letting them do that with mental health issues. People on this very forum are actively considering creating lists and databases of people who lose their gun rights if some doctor, psychiatrist, or panel decides they are mentally unfit. The creation of yet another "no guns allowed" box that anyone can be tossed into when the powers that be deem fit. Who knows where it could lead. Hold certain political beliefs? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Disagree with homosexuality? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Believe in creationism or some other religious doctrine? Mentally unfit, no guns allowed. Sure they won't make it as plain and obvious as that. But who's to say that "individualistic tendencies" or "distrust of authority" won't get warped into "paranoia" and thus label someone mentally unfit to have certain Constitutional rights for life.
And hand in hand with letting the antis divide us is us dividing ourselves and selling each other out. I'm simply aghast that there are THR members who agree with restricting First Amendment rights such as video games in order to preserve their gun collections. Or hunters who are OK with banning AR15s so long as they get to keep their wood stock bolt gun. Revolver shooters who are totally willing to sell out semi auto owners and agree with a magazine limit just as long as their wheelguns are safe for another few years.
We cannot let the antis divide us. And we cannot divide ourselves. The antis will take all of our rights little by little, inch by inch as the decades go by. They have patience. They don't mind waiting, as long as we keep losing a little bit at a time. The "I don't care if you restrict someone else or take what they have, as long as you leave me and mine alone for now" attitude is going to ruin us all.
"Shall not be infringed" means exactly that. Stop selling each other out to keep what you have. And stop buying into the "we're only going to take guns from the felons/mentally unfit/______" line of BS that the antis keep selling us. Because before long, YOU will fit into that ______ and you won't have any way to fight it.