2nd Amendment Question

[Go Devil]

Why does the sporting hobby and protection from "Thugs" seem to be the final argument for protection from infringement of the 2nd Amendment?

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe hunting and thugs were not the intent behind the 2nd; hunting was a pervasive fabric of life in that era and the shooting of thugs was almost condoned.
This train of thought would leave a sensible individual to believe that the 2nd was simple insurance against tyranny (oppressive power exerted by government ).

Is this response (final argument) conforming to some sort of political correctness so as not to sound like a Gun Nut as you and I are labled?

 

[bigg cheese]

IMO, the people trying to take away the rights think that weapons cause violence, so "sports" makes a peaceable excuse.

Of course we all know what the constitution says, so stay away from that argument if at all possible.

 

[SavageEagle]

Well, it's hard to be a sheepdog and argue with a unicorn and a sheep when your whole arguement is about how to protect yourself from a government willing to give people everything they want as long as they do as they're told.

 

[antsi]

"Sporting purposes" is a wedge to divide up gun owners and defeat us in detail. It's also a way to propose banning certain kinds of guns without provoking as much public outcry.

For most Americans, the idea of an armed populace overthrowing a tyrannical government is extremely remote and far-fetched (although worldwide it is hardly an unusual occurrence). The idea that an armed populace is preventive of tyranny, even if there never is an insurrection, is even more abstract and remote. People just don't see these things as being relevant to their lives, so banning weapons relevant to these purposes doesn't seem to threaten much.

However, the same person who wouldn't blink at banning so-called "assault weapons" (ie, non-sporting firearms) may themselves be a skeet shooter. Or have a beloved Uncle Bill who goes duck hunting every year. Or have fond memories of target shooting as a Boy Scout. Banning skeet guns, or Uncle Bill, or Boy Scouts, seems more real and more disturbing.

"Sporting purposes" is, therefore, meant to be reassuring to the broad mass of the populace who have some positive thoughts about Boy Scouts and Uncle Bill, but who lack the imagination to grasp concepts of liberty and the power relationship between the people and the state.

"Sporting purposes" is a way of saying, "Relax. We aren't trying to ban Uncle Bill."

It's really just the same kind of propaganda term as "assault weapon," only working the opposite direction.

 

[VN Vet]

Hunting and sporting purposes? Look at what happen to England and their hunters and sporters. The English have warned us US Citizens. A warning we need to heed.

 

[model67a]

Hunting

The subject of sport when the 2A was written was really not sport it was neccessity. Back then you hunted to eat. If it weren't fo the guns the country would have not been developed beyond the east. As well as being a neccessity for providing food it was neccessry for expanding against the Indians and protection from them. If the guns were taken away from the people we would have been invaded by foreign countries. They know how large our army is but they do not know how many guns are against them in civilian hands. There was a high ranking Japanese officer that was asked why they didn't continue the attack they started at Pearl Harbor and that is what he said. Germany bypassed some countries in Europe because the entire population was armed and some of them continue to require that each household has a firearm, but not just any firearm. they are required to have the so called assault weapons that out government wants to take away from us. It is time for the anti's to realize that guns are what made us free and it is guns that make it possible for us to retain our freedom. stay safe

 

[Robert Richardson]

Did you think about the government being the Thugs?

 

[ATM]

Revolution is the final argument. Defense of life is still a major point but tends to bow to Liberty. Sporting purposes is just a discussion topic about a hobby IMO. Just my worth.

 

[BloodEclipse]

Did you think about the government being the Thugs?

I thought that right away.

 

[dross]

One of the ways we've been sidetracked over the years is by trying to find justification in the Constitution for things we want to do, like own guns. We don't have to find justification to do something, it's the government that must find justification in the Constitution for its actions.

Where in the Constitution does it say the government may decide what kind of guns we may own?