It is gratifying to see that something I wrote prompted a spirited debate. Some posters here have disparaging remarks for me, but I'll take them with a grain of salt. I wanted to address a few points made in the original post.
Regarding my "insidious" interpretation of the Constitution in a pro-statist manner ... I'm not sure I've ever heard my interpretations described as insidious, and I don't think I would ever have described myself as pro-statist ... is there a definition of that that I can see?
Being 'pro-state' in a Constitutional sense is pretty self evident 'Statist' in my opinion.
To me Statism is an insidious type of anti-constitutionalism, as it can be passed off as being very patriotic, but in political reality it leads to supporting group 'rights', ~majority rule~, over individual liberty under the rule of constitutional law.
I've always considered myself a strong federalist/nationalist, though I certainly see great benefit in the separations we have with the states.
Sorry, but your opinions as quoted sure give me the opposite impression.
Regarding my ignoring the Supremacy Clause: I know of this clause of which you speak ... but the Supreme Court prior to incorporation did not apply this clause to the states, as a historical look at Supreme Court decisions will show.
Yep, that clause has been ignored by States for obvious reasons. -- And imo, it was ignored before the Civil War by the feds, for the same obvious reasons. --- Ignoring it now, in the case of our RKBA's, is becoming anti-constitutional in its effect.
My discussion of incorporation on by Bill of Rights page gets into detail. Do I bash the 2nd Amendment? I guess you could say I do, but in the long run, I think my suggested replacement protects gun ownership in a way that the 2nd might not.
The people that own arms will, in the end, protect our RKBA's. Suggesting appeasement measures to 'protect' it is the REAL way to tear this nation apart.
In any case, to anyone who is afraid that my amendment would remove the text of the 2nd from the Constitution, be aware that that is just not how it is done, and I would not do it. The amendments are not only our law but are our historical context. Despite the fact that the 18th is no longer applicable, it remains in mine and all copies as a reminder of where we have been.
As to the note that I am not a friend of the Constitution, I beg to differ most strongly on this point. There are not many people who have done as much as I have to bring this wonderful document to the common person.
To 'bring' it to us, misinterpreted as you have, is no favor Steve. Our RKBA's is an inalienable individual liberty, not a negotiable privilage.
As to some of the other posts, I'm not exactly sure what "freeping" is, but if it involves "stuffing the ballot box," I do hope that the poll is not skewed by multiple votes by one person. That would be a shame and would reflect badly on whomever votes multiple times.
Anyway - thanks for stopping by my site and reading my content. If anyone has any questions or comments for me, I'm happy to address them.
I'd comment that you should give serious thought to revising your sites endorsement of a States 'power' to ignore the supremacy of our US Constitutions guarantees of life, liberty and property..
Thanks again for responding.
Thanks for posting this. As one who recently switched to the BOR restricts the feds mode, here's why: I'd much rather face state clowns on their clown bikes trying to take away my right to keep and bear arms, than have the Feds park a FatBoy in my living room with five justices riding in the sidecar.