tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089410985521614177.post4196857319568924835..comments2010-03-22T11:53:19.445+00:00Comments on SIS II Politics: The Brady CampaignWilliamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316669197770350726noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1089410985521614177.post-34564067467193100972010-03-20T10:52:05.126+00:002010-03-20T10:52:05.126+00:00Great pick Annie. Especially as Jim Brady was Pres...Great pick Annie. Especially as Jim Brady was Press Secretary to Republican Reagan and gun control is a campaign associated with a liberal ethos. <br /><br />I remember the 1981 attack by John Hinckley on Ronald Reagan and also the gun control legislation which Brady's campaign was instrumental in enacting. Before 'Brady's Law' (1994) was passed under Bill Clinton, there were no checks on prospective gun owners. Personal details were required but legal checks weren't. Result? The baddies lied. <br /><br />Also, the example of gun crime reported on Fox (as we know, a famous supporter of the conservative ethos) is a good example of a case which suggests to liberals that gun control is necessary to prevent such crime. However, to conservatives, it suggests the opposite as it's the fear of this kind of gun crime which encourages the law-abiding to believe that gun-ownership is necessary in order to defend themselves. <br /><br />They don't trust the government to disarm gun-wielding criminals... and there is some substance to their argument as legislating against gun ownership will disarm the law-abiding innocent but not the law-breaking guilty. The genie is already out of the lamp as there are so many guns in circulation in the USA now that it's difficult to know how the guilty can be disarmed.<br /><br />As you say, the 2nd Amendment is the premise which supports such widespread gun ownership but it's meaning is disputed so, maybe in the future. opinion will move from the current conservative emphasis on the third and fourth clauses, toward the more liberal interpretation suggested by clauses one and two:<br /><br />'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'Cherie Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03949103265435298451noreply@blogger.com