Do Dead Kids Trump the Constituion?

While examples of the old media using their power to push for ever more restrictive gun laws are so common as to be the norm, this segment by CBS is a particularly clear example:

Newtown families have high hopes for N.J. gun ammo bill

Exactly one family was said to be present lobbying for the bill; the father cites a theory with little to no evidence to support its premise.  An emotional father who lost a son is pushing for more gun restrictions that are virtually irrelevant to mass shootings;  the mass shootings are a tiny segment of homicides that occur in the country; and the actual effects of the law are ignored and downplayed.

As "Joe the Plumber" observed, speaking of the knife, car, and gun attack in California:

"... your dead kids don’t trump my Constitutional rights.”

This is as clear as rationality and logic can make it.  Emotional appeals do not trump the rule of law.  That leads to lynchings are and mob rule.   But at the inquisitr.com, emotion clearly trumps the rule of law, as they castigate Joe the Plumber for pointing out the irrelevance of emotional pleas.  Emotions may be necessary to determine goals, such as protecting children, that we wish to achieve.  They are absolutely terrible at determining the means to reach those goals.

New Jersey already has some of the most restrictive and illogical firearms laws in the nation.   A man who won a hunting rifle in a police lottery was convicted of possessing it a few years later, after New Jersey legislators made it into an "assault" rifle by creating an absurd definition.   It was a clear case of the ignorant crafting legislation based on strong negative emotions.  That definition is included in this new legislation.

Political pundits have speculated that New Jersey Democrat legislators have seen an opportunity to put a potential Republican presidential candidate in a bind.  Pass a very bad piece of legislation that only harms legal gun owners and has no real effect on reducing crime or mass killings.   Promote it via the old media as the propaganda arm of the party.

This may well be the case.  When the media is on your side, such tactics can work.

It is also likely that many  politicians in New Jersey are simply incapable of setting aside emotion in order to decide what to do on this issue.   Numerous irrational acts by legislators on the issue of firearms restrictions argue that they are acting from ignorance as much as malice.

"For the Children" is a form of political pedophilia, meant to blind people's ordinary care and caution in order to pass legislation that would never have a chance under sane and careful examination.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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