Why Liberals *Should* Love the 2nd Amendment

[rsa-otc]

...and still has a bunch of severely gun-unfriendly laws on the books that aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Gun friendly" has to mean more than someone not actively in the effort to ban more stuff at the moment.

As I understand it Christie wasn't so Gun Friendly as an US Prosecutor. About the only thing that he's done was let the poor guy out of jail who really didn't deserve to be there because the judge on the case wouldn't let the jury hear the letter of the law. Christie also removed that judge from the bench for a number of horrible legal rulings on all sorts of things.

About the best thing that came down the road has been a NJ court ruling that Gun ownership is a legal right in NJ (previously NJ courts have held that the 2nd amendment didn't apply in NJ and that gun ownership was a privilege.) Hopefully that and the court case to remove the Good and Substantial need clause (similar to MD) from our carry permit process will break the ice and start things going gun owner’s way in NJ.

Did you know you cannot lend a family member a gun unless you are actually present the entire time that family member has possession of it? Its things like this that drives us Jersey residents batty.

[BaiHu]

REDACTED FOR EASE OF READING

1...It seems, from this perspective, that the political conservatives in power invest a lot of time and money manipulating a voting base in the interest of pursuing their business and financial interests.

I haven't run into too much from the left that involves limiting speech or expression (unless you're talking about overturning People's United?). I'm curious as to what you mean?

2 There are a ton of reasons why the media tends (slightly) toward the left. There are hugely important and traditionally conservative structures, like big business and the military, which thrive on secrecy. Journalists aren't keen on secrecy, and it creates an environment of opposition and mutual mistrust ("Those guys are hiding something, probably something they're doing wrong" vs. "Those guys will irresponsibly unveil important secrets!". Chips fall accordingly. A lot of it is related to education - and while there are schools that are indeed heavily liberal, universities aren't really vast liberal brain washing apparatuses that I've seen them characterized to be. I've had critical thinking skills and mental rigor emphasized far, far more often in my schooling than any particular liberal philosophy. Liberals tend to associate conservatives with dogmatic, faith-without-evidence kind of thinking (which I know to be untrue). Personally, I arrived at my political philosophies on my own, influenced strongly by history. I believe strongly in personal freedom. I also believe that the 'big guys' should be regulated and watched carefully, because history teaches that when they aren't, they stomp all over the little guy.



3 Some will be deaf, no doubt. Not all, though. Hell, I used to be one of those guys saying "c'mooon. A shotgun is fine for home defense - what do you need an AR-15 for?" As I got educated, I changed my mind. Exposure to ideas changes minds, but it's a gradual process, because human beings aren't wired to change our minds. We're wired to try to win arguments even when we know we're wrong. We're wired for confirmation bias. We're wired to hold onto our ideas, tightly.

4 Anyway, looking to the comments section of any given website for rational and even-handed discourse is like expecting a meth addled howler monkey to give a dissertation on philosophy.

5 Both of the major parties suffer from gross hypocrisies. Our two party system needs to go. American political thought is far more complex than either party would have us believe. It's in their best interests to maintain existing power structures, but those power structures restrain effective political expression.

To make this easier, I'll relate to the numbers I labeled above.

1) That is true of any party, which dovetails with what I labeled as your 5th point.
2) The media leans left precisely b/c the education administered is typically left-leaning. Unless you are in the hard sciences, most children will naturally be taught left of center without having strong parental/mentor/personal guidance shifting them towards the right. The public education system is a federal system that literally pays each state more for every minute they are in a classroom-meaning less gym (physical violence), art (free expression) and music (death metal ). Here's a link about the importance of extracurricular activities: http://www.educationnews.org/educati...ar-activities/. As for the more tax dollars per classroom minute, I got that from local teachers I know, but I can't find a link, b/c my google fu is wearing off.
3) Good on you, but most people as you mention towards the end of this point, will not change their minds. If you grow up liberal/anti-gun, then the chances are you'll stay that way. We are lucky that we are as center/right a nation as we seem to be.
4) Yes, but man if you get 100 of those monkeys, you might get some wicked acid-trippy version of Shakespeare.
5) Absolutely, I think the introduction of the Tea Party will help to shake the parties up-they don't seem happy with either party...yet.

[jslaker]

One of the easiest ways to turn somebody off from supporting gun rights is to use "liberal" as a synonym and slur for gun control.

Supporters of gun rights have a tendency to be incredibly self-defeating on this point.