[ilovesarah2012]

Attacking Ben Carson Over Gun Control

March 10, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield

Let’s get a few things out of the way first…

1. Ben Carson isn’t actually running for president. I think it would be premature for him to do so.

2. The 2nd Amendment is non-negotiable.

… but Carson isn’t some Republican official who is preparing to sell out the country. He’s a successful doctor who is taking on a role as a conservative commentator, but he comes from a background of having lived in dangerous cities like Detroit and Baltimore.

Instead of rushing to attack him, it might be better to understand where he’s coming from and educate him.

The “damning” quote that is being circulated shows his confusion about the issue and his attempt to come to grips with it.

“When asked by Glenn Beck if people should be allowed to own semi-automatic weapons, Dr. Benjamin Carson said: “It depends on where you live. I think if you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it.” (Glenn Beck Show, March 1, 2013)

Carson’s comments reflect his life experience. He respects the Bill of Rights, but he has trouble applying it to the everyday reality of a major city where shootings are commonplace. It’s a problem that a lot of urban residents have.

A lot of city dwellers look up from a front page story about three people dead in a gang shooting and have trouble believing that the answer is less gun laws. That doesn’t mean they’re right, but it does mean that they need to be educated. Most of the country still supports the 2nd Amendment, but support is notoriously weak in many cities.

African-Americans tend to support gun control in large numbers. This is an emotional attitude that comes from life experience. It has to be overcome with facts, but it’s hard to convince people who have lived a certain way that their life experience isn’t valid.

Both of these are reasons to reach out to Carson. He doesn’t appear to have his mind firmly made up and is still grappling with the issue. If he actually enters the race or becomes a vocal advocate for gun control, it might be another story, but at this point it would be better to show him why gun control doesn’t work instead of denouncing him loudly for not taking the right position on an issue that he is clearly still uncertain about.

You don’t win over allies when you yell at people who have good intentions, but aren’t fully on board. There’s a big difference between someone like Carson and Crist.

Urging Carson to run for president is premature. Treating him as if he’s already in the race is also premature.

Carson understands the moral and legal principles, but he’s hazier on the social functions. It’s a challenge, but it’s the kind of challenge we need to meet if we’re going to win the war of ideas.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/attacking-ben-carson-over-gun-control/

[Red in Blue PA]

The 2A is not supposed to “reflect your experience”. It is absolute. And if someone running for President does not understand this simple fact, they do not deserve to hold the office. Period. End of discussion.

Do not make excuses for what he said.

[Moorings]

Thanks for posting that. Not everyone wakes up one morning and has all the conservative "i's" dotted and "t's" crossed. Carson real job was as a doctor, and he has probably not spent time looking at every issue under the constitutional lens, and figured out what his public opinion should be for them. Now that he is doing conservative commentary and speaking, he is probably in the process of thinking and defining some of these issues.

He is not running for office at this time, and until he runs, it is just his opinion.

[Sirius Lee]

Let’s get a few things out of the way first…

1. Ben Carson isn’t actually running for president. I think it would be premature for him to do so.

The reason we're talking about it is because, premature or not, he is polling better than Cruz and Palin in a NH poll. Now I like Dr. Carson. We agree on most issues. I hope President Cruz appoints him Surgeon General. But I will not equivocate on the 2nd Amendment, nor vote for someone who does.

[Eric Pode of Croydon]

You don’t win over allies when you yell at people who have good intentions, but aren’t fully on board.

Here at FR, if that advice were to be followed, the post count would probably drop by eighty percent.

The neverending search for someone who will preach to the choir with 100.00% consistency causes a lot of FRustration here. I'd take Carson for president in a nanosecond.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Carson’s comments reflect his life experience. He respects the Bill of Rights, but he has trouble applying it to the everyday reality of a major city where shootings are commonplace. It’s a problem that a lot of urban residents have.

---

The nation is filled with people who think their own common sense or life experience trumps the Constitution. I don’t trust any of them.

[matthew fuller]

Someone needs to send Dr. Carson the following- it’s about God, Guns, the NRA, and Blacks.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/9RABZq5IoaQ?feature=player_embedded