{"id":2067,"date":"2013-02-13T10:36:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T10:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/an-appropriate-response-to-gun-control-assumptions.html"},"modified":"2013-02-13T10:36:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T10:36:00","slug":"an-appropriate-response-to-gun-control-assumptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/02\/an-appropriate-response-to-gun-control-assumptions.html","title":{"rendered":"An appropriate response to gun control assumptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Written in\u00a0response<\/a>\u00a0to the previously\u00a0referenced\u00a0post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what\u2019s the basic difference between this and our own domestic debates? As near as I can tell, it boils down to acceptable losses.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Friend, you are letting rhetoric usurp logic here. It does not boil down to \u2018acceptable losses\u2019 and no one who argues in favor of an expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment has ever said it does.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Are you honestly unaware of what the arguments are in favor of a republic maintaining an armed citizenry? I am not asking if you agree with the arguments, merely if you are aware of what they are.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>If you are aware of such arguments, then answer them. Answer our arguments at their strongest point, if you think your argument can carry the day. But to pretend we say something we did not say, and to answer that instead, is what is called a \u2018straw-man\u2019 argument. It is a trick of rhetoric, not something a serious man does when pondering a question seriously.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Here are the arguments you have to address:<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>First, an armed citizenry is the best guarantee of maintaining the liberty of a free people<\/span>Second, even if this first consideration is secondary to the safety concerns which require some reasonable regulation of arms, the Congress has no authority to pass any such regulation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Third, even if state and local governments (who do possess that authority) wish to pass such laws, it must be done in a fashion which has the smallest possible effect on the legitimate ownership of arms by law-abiding citizens \u2014 this is a principle of the common law extending back to the Twelfth Century, namely that no law should be overbroad.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Fourth, if a proposed law or regulation is found that places a minimal burden on lawful ownership of arms, whether the law will be efficient or inefficient? Both common sense and scientific studies show that areas with the most restrictive gun laws (Chicago, DC, LA) also have the highest rates of gun violence, whereas those with the least, have the least. See, for example, John Lott\u2019s MORE GUNS LESS CRIME.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Finally, the analogy between me, a law-abiding and honest citizen of a free country who has both the right and the duty to defend myself and my family from crime, assault, and tyranny, and the mad dictator who is himself one of the tyrants the whole point of civil society is meant to fight, and, with God\u2019s help, abolish, is an analogy that looks at the shallowest possible surface phenomena and ignores the substance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/span>Please resist the temptation to indulge in merely rhetorical scoring of points. Our current public discourse already suffers from far too much of this nonsense, and it generates emotion without addressing the logic.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think the first\u00a0question\u00a0was the most important: if you don\u2019t know the arguments, don\u2019t \u00a0judge and condemn those who hold them. I admit I know little of the gun advocate side, since I don\u2019t personally own any guns. \u00a0As I said here<\/a>, I hunted with my Dad, but that was many moons ago. \u00a0I do notice things, such as the tendency of those who push for tighter gun regulations to\u00a0also\u00a0want to regulate things like religious freedom, by way of the HHS mandate. \u00a0I\u2019m also not stupid enough to miss that there are those who would ban all guns tomorrow if they think they could. \u00a0I even notice that the Bishops seem to\u00a0have\u00a0suggested it\u2019s time to ditch all handguns. \u00a0I don\u2019t know. \u00a0I don\u2019t know what the answer is. \u00a0I just know that when I start hearing \u201cI\u2019m right\/you\u2019re stupid or evil (or both)\u201d, I\u00a0immediately\u00a0begin to get suspicious. \u00a0Well done Mr. Wright.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written in\u00a0response\u00a0to the previously\u00a0referenced\u00a0post: \u201cSo what\u2019s the basic difference between this and our own domestic debates? As near as I can tell, it boils down to acceptable losses.\u201d\u00a0 Friend, you are letting rhetoric usurp logic here. It does not boil down to \u2018acceptable losses\u2019 and no one who argues in favor of an expansive interpretation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAn appropriate response to gun control assumptions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Written in response to the previously referenced post:\u201cSo what\u2019s the basic difference between this and our own domestic debates? 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