Sunday’s editorial in the Seattle Times regarding a newly-created Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility plays a dangerous game of semantics to fool the public into believing that this group knows anything about true firearms safety, and is no threat to a fundamental civil right protected by both the state and federal constitutions.
The very name of the group is deceptive, as it would be more appropriate to call itself the Seattle Alliance for Gun Control. That’s what this group really is, and they know it.
Naturally, the editorial panders this group of gun prohibitionists as having “a serious infusion of talent, energy and resources.” They include Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, former Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski. Author and public television host Eric Liu, Seattle-King County health director David Fleming and Zach Silk, a campaign manager.
Noticeably absent is anybody described as a certified firearms instructor, or even a gun owner; anyone who might have a remote idea of what true firearms “responsibility” entails.
The editorial contains this gem: “Promoting sensible, responsible gun ownership does not trample on Second Amendment prerogatives to own firearms.”
Does anyone see something wrong with that statement? The Second Amendment doesn’t refer to a “prerogative” to keep and bear arms, it refers to a “right.” That right, according to two successive Supreme Court rulings, is an individual one, not some “collective” right of states to organize militias. It is right that shall not be infringed.
Washington State's constitutional provision protects and affirms the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the state. It’s such a solid provision that when Arizona became a state, its constitution copied Washington’s language. Washington's tenet says the right shall not be impaired.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment