UGACherokee
07-27-2005, 01:16 AM
Hello all.
I just wanted to check in to apologize to all of you folks for not having been around as much as I used to, but take it from me, law school exceeds its reputation for having a challenging curriculum.
It's good though to finally see some action in these forums, and some interest in a personal commitment to the proactive preservation of the 2A for ourselves and our children.
Comment #1: We need not look to the courts for assistance in this endeavor. I'm sure that some of you folks have already suspected this, but for those of you who are expecting a return to the Constitution envisioned by the founders with two (or several) conservative Bush appointees to the SCOTUS, think again. "Judicial activism" simply refers to the making of law from the bench, as opposed to a strict interpretation of the statute at hand. But while a conservative court won't be stepping on Congress' toes in creating new law, it will be perfectly willing to rely on established precedent in respects to Federal law, and defer to State governments (like CA, HI, NJ, MA, NY, etc.) when their gun control legislation exceeds that mandated at the Federal level. This means that each and every one of us is going to have to participate in the political arena which leads me to
Comment #2 The 21st Century Patriots is a grand idea, and I am absolutely delighted at the support that it is gathering here in the forums. As a group, those of us who are interested in preserving the 2nd have been increasingly united in our support of pro-2A candidates in national elections for over a decade now, and we have successfully stemmed the tide of gun control, rolled back the AW ban, and secured a level of Congressional responsiveness to our cause that is unprecedented in modern times (witness the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus).
But the fight now has to be taken to the legislative bodies of the States, including ( and especially) those States that "we" as a movement have deemed "lost causes". What better start than the 21st Century Patriots?
Comment #3 My final comment might not sit well with some of you folks, but I would just ask that you hear me out, and toy with it awhile.
We're going to have to reach out and win the hearts and minds of those folks who might have accepted "gun control" as part of a larger package of liberal/Leftist issues, but aren't particularly committed to gun control ideologically. That's going to be especially difficult for the conservatives in the room, but read on.
First, a good many of these folks are curious about shooting, but for whatever reason, they have lived their lives without being exposed to firearms, or have simply never taken the opportunity as adults.
Second, the arguments that we all know by rote in favor of the 2A, and the absolute dishonesty with which the Antis have carried out their campaign to ban guns are self-selling.
Third, the 2A has absolutely nothing to do with abortion rights, the War on Terror, Op:IF, the environment, affirmative action, progressive taxation, globalization, and numerous other issues that shelter under the umbrella of "progressivism/liberalism"; in other words, an affirmative stance on guns rights doesn't preclude opposition to the war, being pro-choice, etc.
Fourth, eventually, core political participation in regards to the 2A is going to plateau, and we're going to have to move beyond simply prying our like-minded citizens away from the couch and cable TV, and into action.
That's all I have time for at the moment, but it's good to be back on the forums, and great to see the organization that has swelled behind the Patriots. :up:
I just wanted to check in to apologize to all of you folks for not having been around as much as I used to, but take it from me, law school exceeds its reputation for having a challenging curriculum.
It's good though to finally see some action in these forums, and some interest in a personal commitment to the proactive preservation of the 2A for ourselves and our children.
Comment #1: We need not look to the courts for assistance in this endeavor. I'm sure that some of you folks have already suspected this, but for those of you who are expecting a return to the Constitution envisioned by the founders with two (or several) conservative Bush appointees to the SCOTUS, think again. "Judicial activism" simply refers to the making of law from the bench, as opposed to a strict interpretation of the statute at hand. But while a conservative court won't be stepping on Congress' toes in creating new law, it will be perfectly willing to rely on established precedent in respects to Federal law, and defer to State governments (like CA, HI, NJ, MA, NY, etc.) when their gun control legislation exceeds that mandated at the Federal level. This means that each and every one of us is going to have to participate in the political arena which leads me to
Comment #2 The 21st Century Patriots is a grand idea, and I am absolutely delighted at the support that it is gathering here in the forums. As a group, those of us who are interested in preserving the 2nd have been increasingly united in our support of pro-2A candidates in national elections for over a decade now, and we have successfully stemmed the tide of gun control, rolled back the AW ban, and secured a level of Congressional responsiveness to our cause that is unprecedented in modern times (witness the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus).
But the fight now has to be taken to the legislative bodies of the States, including ( and especially) those States that "we" as a movement have deemed "lost causes". What better start than the 21st Century Patriots?
Comment #3 My final comment might not sit well with some of you folks, but I would just ask that you hear me out, and toy with it awhile.
We're going to have to reach out and win the hearts and minds of those folks who might have accepted "gun control" as part of a larger package of liberal/Leftist issues, but aren't particularly committed to gun control ideologically. That's going to be especially difficult for the conservatives in the room, but read on.
First, a good many of these folks are curious about shooting, but for whatever reason, they have lived their lives without being exposed to firearms, or have simply never taken the opportunity as adults.
Second, the arguments that we all know by rote in favor of the 2A, and the absolute dishonesty with which the Antis have carried out their campaign to ban guns are self-selling.
Third, the 2A has absolutely nothing to do with abortion rights, the War on Terror, Op:IF, the environment, affirmative action, progressive taxation, globalization, and numerous other issues that shelter under the umbrella of "progressivism/liberalism"; in other words, an affirmative stance on guns rights doesn't preclude opposition to the war, being pro-choice, etc.
Fourth, eventually, core political participation in regards to the 2A is going to plateau, and we're going to have to move beyond simply prying our like-minded citizens away from the couch and cable TV, and into action.
That's all I have time for at the moment, but it's good to be back on the forums, and great to see the organization that has swelled behind the Patriots. :up: