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Hands-down, my favorite parts of the Constitution are the Bill of Rights (Amendments ONE through TEN), as well as the Fourteenth Amendment which applied the Bill of Rights to all government (not just the feds).
But the "Bill or Rights", the first ten amendments, stands out for me. They were developed by the founding fathers, and they are still unique to the world - they protect us from the government, but more then that they define individual rights that no other country on the earth has to this day, the focus on the individual. They were, and still are, a great experiment to mankind. Some still do not understand some amendments (i.e. the 2nd amendment), some of the European social democracies still do not get it - but taken as a collective set of rights, as a whole, it makes cohesive sense. They are rights not allowed by a government, but rights allowed as a human.
My buddy likes the 2nd Amendment. He always has his "heater" on his belt !
A lot of people talk about the Second Amendment as though it were absolute. Not so. None (repeat, NONE) of the first ten Amendments is absolute. None of them is free of exceptions. To illustrate, let's use the First Amendment. The First Amendment guarantees:
The freedom of religion, but our laws also guarantee the freedom FROM religion. Atheists have the same rights as Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Satanists, etc.
The freedom of speech, but our laws also place reasonable limits on what one may say and where one may say it. (Example -- no one may shout "FIRE!" in a crowded theater unless there is actually a fire)
The freedom of the press, but our laws also place reasonable limits on what the press may say. (Example -- the libel laws.)
The freedom of peaceful assembly, but our laws also place reasonable limits on WHERE and WHEN we may assemble. (Example -- every group must first obtain a "parade permit" or similar before marching on City Hall, etc.)
The right to petition the government for a redress of grievances, but our laws also place reasonable limits on HOW we may do so. (Example -- there are procedures by which any group may present such a petition.)
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And so it would go for the Second, and the Third, and the Fourth, and the...
(As The Eagles once said in their song Life in the Fast Lane, "Are you with me so far...?")
The Second Amendment is the foundation on which the entire Constitution, and Bill of Rights, rests. Without the right of the citizens to bear arms, government can ignore, revoke, or change any of your "rights" with impunity.
Freedom of religion, the First Amendment, is also important to stop any particular religion from forcing their beliefs on others in America, and grabbing the power of our military to use against other nations that are perceived as threats to religious people in power.
Seriously, it's the part of the First Amendment after the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses - specifically, the right to free speech, to a press, to assembly, to petition. These are the lynchpins of democracy upon which all other rights are secured and enacted.
I do not mean to suggest that the rest of the First Amendment, and the rest of the Constitution, are not important. But they all hinge around the parts I reference above.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NHartphotog
The Second Amendment is the foundation on which the entire Constitution, and Bill of Rights, rests. Without the right of the citizens to bear arms, government can ignore, revoke, or change any of your "rights" with impunity.
Freedom of religion, the First Amendment, is also important to stop any particular religion from forcing their beliefs on others in America, and grabbing the power of our military to use against other nations that are perceived as threats to religious people in power.
This is demonstrably incorrect.
Iraq is awash in personal firearms, and it was under Saddam Hussein as well. Firearm ownership is widespread in Russia. There are few restrictions in Saudi Arabia. It is widespread in third-world despotries and juntas all over the world. Modern states, with trained infantry and tanks and attack helicopters and more, don't care about citizens with shotguns and rifles. Like I said, we have numerous examples of this. On the flip side, the word is full of flourishing liberal democracies - most of western Europe, Canada, Australia - where firearm ownership is restricted far beyond what the Second Amendment allows, to say nothing of Japan, where it is almost completely forbidden.
This is not merely theoretical. There simply is little demonstrated correlation between the ability of the citizenry to own firearms and whether or not a state embraces the rights of the individuals, enacts laws granting equal protection, allows regular free elections, and so forth.
The Second Amendment is the foundation on which the entire Constitution, and Bill of Rights, rests.
I kinda-sorta agree, AS LONG AS we recognize that, just like the First Amendment has been, the Second Amendment is subject to legally-imposed limitations. As my parents would have said, "Anybody with one eye and half-sense could see that..." Were my parents alive today, they would be among the first to tell you that not just anybody can be granted the right to keep and bear just-any-old firearm.
By law, we have already abridged said right so that only "adults" (definition varies by state, and by type of firearm) may own a firearm. Our laws also prohibit anyone who has been convicted of a felony from owning one. By Federal law, we have restricted the types of firearms people may own without submitting to intense federal licensing/regulation/inspection/monitoring.
So, is the Second Amendment an absolute freedom? Not just no, but HECK NO -- as evidenced by our own fully-vetted and -tested laws.
Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is ignorant of the facts, or is lying, or is trying to sell you something you probably don't need.
-- Nighteyes (a staunch supporter of ALL TEN of the Bill of Rights, plus the Fourteenth)
YES, I'm a gun-owner and I have been all of my life. Using a handgun, with only a bit of warm-up, I can hit a 4-inch target at 10 yards, time and time again. Using one of my scoped rifles, and with a few days' practice, I can still drop a man in his tracks at 600+ yards; farther if the wind isn't kicking up too bad...
AND I'm a [gasp!] Liberal. Go figure.
Last edited by Nighteyes; 02-16-2015 at 05:49 PM..
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