Posted on 06/20/2016 6:20:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
As Senate Democrats filibuster, I’m left wondering: what would Democrats do if conservatives agreed to halt the sale of semi-automatic assault-style rifles only if Democrats agreed to ban abortions after 20 weeks?
In the wake of the horrific murders in Orlando, the Left has reverted to their self-righteous talking points and cherry-picked facts. As we now know, this attack had an immediate cause—an evil guy with a Sig Sauer MCX—and underlying causes—mental health problems, an adherence to extremist religious propaganda, a struggle with his sexual orientation. For tragic perspective, last year, there were 372 mass shootings (defined as an incident in which at least four people are killed or wounded), killing 475 and wounding 1,870.
The Left says this is a preventable loss of life. We need to act now to prevent these heart wrenching deaths by addressing the immediate cause. We can pass laws to ban the type of gun he used, insist on more background checks, and prevent people being investigated by the FBI or on the terrorist watch list from buying a gun. This may not solve everything, but at least we can do better than doing nothing. Plus, while less than half of Americans want to ban assault weapons, over 80 percent of Americans favor background checks. And that includes gun owners themselves. So they want us to take that common ground and pass their legislation.
Conservatives point to our Constitution, the Second Amendment, and the Supreme Court, which has said the Constitution provides an individual right to bear arms. We say the Left’s so-called solutions won’t stop evil people from killing with a bomb or a knife or a legally purchased handgun. And their unwillingness to address the underlying problems by enforcing the laws we have, passing mental health reform, and calling it Islamic extremism makes us think they are just out to get folks like us.
As it happens, my husband and I are gun owners. We have a handgun and a shotgun in our house. I love shooting clay pigeons and he feels safer when he travels knowing we have a handgun in the home for me to protect myself (and the dog—he loves that dog!). I also grew up in rural Texas with a rifle at home that my mother used to shoot the armadillos digging up her azalea bushes and where deer hunting was a common father-son bonding activity. This is all to say, I happen to agree with the Supreme Court and believe I have a constitutional right—codified in the Second Amendment—to keep these weapons in my home with minimal government interference, but I am willing to hear genuine arguments on the other side.
But now, let’s talk about abortion. Every year, there are 700,000 abortions performed and about 15,000 of those killed are what we would call late term abortions where the baby could live outside the womb.
Conservatives says this is a preventable loss of life. We need to act now to prevent these heart wrenching deaths by addressing the immediate cause. We can pass laws to ban abortions after 20 weeks, insist that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, and require women to receive counseling about their options beforehand. This may not solve everything, but at least we can do better than doing nothing. Plus, 64 percent of Americans think abortion should be illegal in the second trimester and 80 percent think it should be illegal in the third trimester. And those numbers go up among women. So we want to take that common ground and pass legislation to stop these deaths.
The Left points to the Supreme Court, which has said unrelated provisions in the Constitution provide a right to privacy, which in turn allows for abortion. They say our legislative solutions won’t stop unwanted pregnancies or back alley abortions. And our unwillingness to address the underlying problems by making birth control free, funding universal day care, and passing more equal pay legislation makes them think we are just out to get folks like them.
As it happens, I’m also pro-life. And I’ll admit that I’m simply stunned that people on the Left can argue with a straight face that a mother has a right to kill a baby that can live outside the womb. But, this week in particular, I’m even more stunned at the Left’s hypocrisy on gun control—demonizing conservatives who want to preserve their Second Amendment rights while refusing to even consider restrictions on killing tens of thousands of babies that could live outside the womb. This is why it continues to be hard for conservatives to take liberal’s arguments at face value when it comes to guns. Their ideology trumps logic and facts too often.
So here we are. Forty-nine people are dead because a hateful and evil person got their hands on a deadly weapon. Our political discourse—on both sides—has made me cringe last week. It’s embarrassing. And it’s a shame…because sometimes I think the two sides have more in common than they realize.
Any gun control bills right now are DOA.
Genuine arguments?
I've been listening to the blather and drivel from the gun-ban crowd for decades.
They have no genuine arguments. To hell with 'em.
The hypocrisy is blatant and forever ongoing - whenever there’s a crime, they attempt to disarm the law-abiding.
It’s Machiavellian to the max and several light years beyond disingenuous.
There are millions of guns purchased every year, of which only a very small percentage are involved in the loss of human life, whether by murder, suicide, or accident.
There are 700,000+ abortions purchased every year. 100% of them result in the loss of human life, with only a very small percentage of the deaths being accidental (cases where the mother dies too from complications of the abortion) and all the rest being entirely intentional.
One of Cruz’s mistresses speaks...
Why do blathering senators deserve more protection than the sheeple?
I am trying to think which LIBERAL Supreme Court Justice from the 1970s once said that if something is legal for so many years it automatically becomes a RIGHT.
If Hitlery wins, and she has any coattails, the Republicans may lose the Senate, and she will then put the 9th vote on the Supreme Court, and count on that nominee to be extremely anti-second amendment.
If the Republicans lose the house in 2018, expect a slew of anti-gun legislation to be passed into law, and upheld by SCOTUS.
I do not think Hillary is going to win to be honest with you, Hillary lost the election last Sunday, the day of the Orlando terror attack.
The misuse of guns and the misuse of medical services (for abortion) are both the result of evil harbored in humanity.
>>They have no genuine arguments. To hell with ‘em.
I agree. I had a talk with a liberal acquaintance this weekend and the subject turned to guns. He invited me to “”have a dialogue to find some common ground on finding a solution” ( yeah, he talks like an MSNBC talking head).
My other friends, who are all conservative, started to play his game when I just said, “NO.”
The lib looked hurt and said, “but how can we find a solution that works for both of us if you won’t talk?”
I said, “because YOU don’t get to bargain with me over MY rights. If you want my gun, you have to take it by force.”
He told me that I’m unreasonable and I told him that he better get used to it because we are not going to deal with people like him anymore. If they want our guns, there will be bloodshed. Period!
Then I explained how men who had served together in the Army and went to school together inWest Point had to face each other across the battlefield in the Civil War. I said, “I can do that right now.”
>>If the Republicans lose the house in 2018, expect a slew of anti-gun legislation to be passed into law, and upheld by SCOTUS.
If that happens, expect tens of millions of conservatives to break the law.
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