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Date:      Mon, 27 Mar 2000 22:16:34 -0500
From:      "Crist J. Clark" <cjc@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>
Cc:        cjclark@home.com, Mark Ovens <mark@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org>, Jay Nelson <noslenj@swbell.net>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Guns and freedom [Was: Re: On "intelligent people" and "dangers to BSD"]
Message-ID:  <20000327221634.A11538@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com>
In-Reply-To: <200003280035.RAA06519@usr06.primenet.com>; from tlambert@primenet.com on Tue, Mar 28, 2000 at 12:35:20AM %2B0000
References:  <20000326015310.A846@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com> <200003280035.RAA06519@usr06.primenet.com>

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On Tue, Mar 28, 2000 at 12:35:20AM +0000, Terry Lambert wrote:
[snip] 
> > One of the things the Founding Fathers
> > did get right (even if some ammendments about bearing arms were
> > written too vaguely), give Congress the purse strings.
> 
> I don't find it vague:
> 
> 	A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security
> 	of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear
> 	arms, shall not be infringed.
> 
> 
> Even putting aside the tyrrany argument about "regulate", and
> whether the militia should be accountable to an ideal or to a
> government, regardless if that government becomes an oppressive
> regime... "shall not be infringed" is pretty unambiguous.

Not so fast, you say it yourself. It says that the right to bear arms
in order to sustain a well regulated malitia will not be infringed. To
a certain extent, the militias of that era are what we would consider
the National Guard now-a-days.

Even if you won't read it in that sense, it by no means says, "the
right of anyone to keep and bear any darn weapon they could ever
want." Personally, if you have not picked it up yet, I'm all for
people bearing rifles, shotguns, and "sport" weapons, but handguns,
assault weapons, etc. really serve no legitimate purpose in society at
large and there is no reason that they cannot be tightly
regulated. Rights in the amendments aren't absolute. We have free
speech and press, but you can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater, nor
is slander in speech or writing protected. They all have limits that
can and should be imposed by the legislative and judicial branches.

And I don't think that's what you or a bunch of others here read into
that. That's OK, and we aren't gunna solve it here. I'm done now too.
-- 
Crist J. Clark                           cjclark@home.com


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