Now that is a fun job. Damn.

Rednecks with badges and guns are bad enough, now they have tanks!

Why does SLT have a SWAT team?

The 2nd Amendment was written to assure that the PEOPLE would be as well armed as their government. You know, just in case of tyranny? Do you know anybody who owns a tank or a fully automatic rifle?

Dog: The 2nd Amendment was not written to ensure individuals were well armed against their own government. That is a very recent interpretation. It took over 200 years and a very conservative court to rule that the 2nd Amendment applied to individuals (2008 the Heller decision). Same court that decided a Corporation is a person. (Talk about judicial advocacy). Up until 2008, the 2nd Amendment (over 200 years) had been interpreted to be related to a well regulated militia.

Even with the surprising 2008 ruling, Scalia even opined that gun rights were not limitless and federal and state agencies could in fact pass laws that restrict some weapons and some access.

The Brady Bill was considered constitutional and would likely be today also (oh and who wrote a famous editorial supporting the Brady Bill, oh that’s right, Ronald Reagan);

For example, laws that require background checks, particular at gun shows are constitutional, etc. All things the NRA has fought against. The NRA is not protecting gun rights as much as they are protecting the gun industry to make a gazillion dollars. There is little money to be made in selling hunting rifles or shotguns for skeet – much more money to be made trying to convince people their life’s are at risk and danger lurks behind ever corner and a gun is the only thing that will save them. When in reality if many of these gun nuts looked in the mirror they would realize selling their guns and investing in a much better diet and exercise equipment would do a far better job. Plus make them nicer people to boot.

Rick

Chief: you are sadly correct. The militarizing of police departments is actually working against them – just ask the Ferguson police how that is working for them – not. The gov had to replace them with Highway patrol which are responding in a much more respectful manner – allowing peaceful protest to continue.

There is a famous example in Madison, WI from the 1970’s. During the antiwar movement and about 3 days before Kent State, the University ask the Madison police to remove peaceful protestors from a building – they did and sent 65 students to the hospital, many with very serious injuries by beating the students with billy clubs. In other words, the militarization of the police failed miserably. In the early 1970’s (after ousting the crazy major who later ran as vice-president as Lester Maddox’s ticket) Madison hired a progressive police chief (Couper) who turned the Department from an ineffective group of thugs (as viewed by the public) into a respected first rate police department, by demilitarizing the police force and working to gain the trust of the public – which they did. So police departments reverting back to approaches in the 1970s is not a healthy thing.

See a nice write up by Couper on how police departments should act. http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/a-problem-in-madison/

Rick

Lets take a look at another anecdote about what happens when cops don’t have military weaponry and training. Remember these guys?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout

Rick’s comments are articulate & express how the “silent majority” feels.

PS: Hard Rock Cafe? How tacky ! Couldn’t they come up w/something to attract FAMILIES?

Dog: Actually, the 2nd Amendment and interpretations of it have long been debated and for good reason. There are several versions of the text of the Second Amendment, each with capitalization or punctuation differences. Differences exist between the drafted and ratified copies, the signed copies on display, and various published transcriptions. The importance (or lack thereof) of these differences has been the source of debate regarding the meaning and interpretation of the amendment, particularly regarding the importance of the prefatory clause.

You are correct the first Federal gun control laws did not happen until the 1920’s and 1930’s. But Heller (2008) is considered a landmark decision by the Supreme Court, because it is the first time the Supreme Court considered it an individual right – and that is simply factual.

People are being duped by the NRA, which is all about making the gun industry money. If folks only bought hunting rifles, target weapons and the small number of folks who truly need a gun for protection (outside of law enforcement), the gun industry would be a small boutique industry – probably smaller then the bike industry. Follow the money. If gun violence in this country was not several magnitudes greater then any other developed country in the world, I would be bemused by people who own guns to “protect” themselves.

I was raised by folks who owned guns for hunting and skeet shooting; individuals that kept their guns in gun safes when not in use, and scoffed at numnuts who armed themselves for the bogey man. As my uncle use to say who was an avid hunter and quite a good skeet shooter, he believed in gun ownership (for him just not others who he simply did not trust).

As I said before, a sizable number of gunnuts are rather overweight and at risk of heart disease, back and knee issues and diabetes. If they want to live longer, then sell their guns and buy a bike.

Rick

Dogula says:

“ up until the 30s, there was NO attempt by the government to limit what kind of weaponry the citizens kept! It wasn’t till the gangster days of prohibition, when the bad guys were using Thompson machine guns against each other and the authorities. And as we know, THAT was as a result of government making alcohol a crime!”

A fact that should not be overlooked was that government only made alcohol a crime after succumbing to the relentless pressures of conservative Christians. Yet another glaring example of the importance of keeping religions OUT of government.

Wasn’t the separation of Church and State a matter of importance to our Founding Fathers?

Rick, by the way, I am a gun nut, wanna race to the top of Tallac?

4-mer; it says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . .”
So, however you want to look at that, government needs to stay the heck out of religion. Does religion need to stay out of government? Probably a real good idea. But why do you call MY attention to that? I have NEVER suggested that we should have a theocracy. Far from it. I’d prefer that most of the Federal government should shut down completely. We’d all be safer.

Dog knows nothing of US History (it didn’t even know about the 3/5ths compromise until a few months ago.) James Madison wrote the 2nd Amendment to keep the militias together and not disarmed. Hence it begins with “A well regulated militia…”