Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Paul Helmke and Super Dangerous Weapons


ABC News interviewed Mr. Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Disarm America. He had some interesting things to say:
(W)ith the Supreme Court poised to hand down a potentially landmark decision in the case, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fully expects to lose.

"We've lost the battle on what the Second Amendment means," campaign president Paul Helmke told ABC News. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks it's an individual right. Why are we arguing a theory anymore? We are concerned about what we can do practically."
As I noted in my comment there, Mr. Helmke once again avoids mention of the fact that he and his ilk were attempting to change the Constitution without recourse to the Amendment process through REDEFINING the meaning of "right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms". They failed. Spectacularly. That doesn't mean we think they've given up. And his mouthpiece confirms:
Brady Campaign Attorney Dennis Henigan said there are multiple gun control measures that would not run afoul of a Supreme Court decision striking down the D.C. gun ban.

"Universal background checks don't affect the right of self-defense in the home. Banning a super dangerous class of weapons, like assault weapons, also would not adversely affect the right of self-defense in the home," said Henigan. "Curbing large volume sales doesn't affect self-defense in the home."
Yet the Brady Campaign supported the D.C. ban at least in part because they believe that handguns are a "super dangerous class" of weapons. The Violence Policy Center, of the same ilk, has been trying to get a national handgun ban passed since its inception. They even sell a book on the topic: EVERY HANDGUN IS AIMED AT YOU.

But somehow Mr. Helmke thinks that "assault weapons" - which I doubt he could define - are "super dangerous." Apparently only when they're in the hands of people not on the .gov payroll, since almost every police force in the country (including, most recently, Chicago) is armed or arming with AR-15 or M16/M4 rifles and carbines. You know, those spray-firing bullet hoses designed to be fired from the hip and that are only good for mowing down crowds?

In current news, Utah's Hill Air Force Base has apparently misplaced a crate of M-16 select-fire rifles (read: "machine guns"). Apparently since these are official government firearms, the Salt Lake Tribune notes that they are "small caliber rifles," though they are "worth up to $5,000 each on the street."

"Small caliber rifle" doesn't sound like a "Super Dangerous Weapon," does it?

They're missing twelve of them.

Helmke must be having kittens.

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