Senate GOPers: Loosen Gun Laws To Defend Gay Rights

Washington Independent:

One month after successfully tucking an amendment into the credit card reform bill that expanded gun rights, a small number of Senate Republicans are looking at the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as another chance to score a victory for the Second Amendment. The possible plan -- to add an amendment that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. The possible rationale -- to defend gay rights.

Read the whole story: Washington Independent

Comments

[Soapfan]

Say what u will about the gun groups but they get things done.

[onepotatotwopotato]

There is another discussion on the same subject going on here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-barron/concealed-carry-if-youre_b_213912.html?show_comment_id=25469185#comment_25469185 right now.

Come on over, y'all!

[jbrantow]

For a group of "men" who hate gays so much.....they certainly use them to further their own opportunistic causes. Pathetic.

[OdinsEye]

The GOP does not hate gays. Nor does the NRA.

[djkrlsn]

The Pink Pistols are BIG advocates of people being able to defend themselves regardless of sexual orientation as I am and so you should be as well

[onepotatotwopotato]

The gutless wonders here seem to have taken down any links to this thread, so no wonder it is dying out.

[Tim303]

"Guns don't kill people, people do."

People armed with nerf ball bats kill people significantly less.

[onepotatotwopotato]

Raging Against Self Defense:
A Psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality
http://www.jpfo.org/filegen-n-z/ragingagainstselfdefense.htm
By Sarah Thompson, M.D.
righter@th­erighter.c­om

Quote from the article linked to above:

"You don't need to have a gun; the police will protect you."

"If people carry guns, there will be murders over parking spaces and neighborhood basketball games."

"I'm a pacifist. Enlightened, spiritually aware people shouldn't own guns."

"I'd rather be raped than have some redneck militia type try to rescue me."

How often have you heard these statements from misguided advocates of victim disarmament, or even woefully uninformed relatives and neighbors? Why do people cling so tightly to these beliefs, in the face of incontrovertible evidence that they are wrong? Why do they get so furiously angry when gun owners point out that their arguments are factually and logically incorrect?

How can you communicate with these people who seem to be out of touch with reality and rational thought?

One approach to help you deal with anti-gun people is to understand their psychological processes. Once you understand why these people behave so irrationally, you can communicate more effectively with them.

[NWBrunette]

Amazing how the right-wing fruitcakes can wrap violence-loving, fear-mongering and gay-bashing up in a sweet tidy little loving package... and be well on their way to fooling a big chunk of the American public in the process.

[omobob]

This dog won’t hunt. The conservatives are talking but no one is listening. 33% of Republicans think their Party is on the wrong track.

[djkrlsn]

Then why are the proRKBA people doing so well in DC?

[oafishcad]

Republicans are right all gays and lesbians should carry guns. Don't ya think?

[JumpDownTurnAround]

I'll go get one if they'll pass the Matthew Shepherd Act!

[omobob]

I would never carry a loaded weapon in public. Only a fool would carry a loaded weapon. It’s unsafe and dangerous. I’ve know 5 persons who have been shot, one murdered. All were shot by some one they knew and trusted. i lived in NYC for 8 years in the late 70s-early 80s. the town was broke. I was never in a situation that called for the use of deadly force. People who carry loaded weapons are putting themselves and others at an unnecessary danger. A written test, video and time on the range can not prepare a citizen to make quick, competent decisions where the use of deadly force is involved.

[onepotatotwopotato]

As compared to all of the private citizens, police, security personnel and military who carry unloaded weapons I guess.

[CrittersRTasty]

In the interest of brevity, all I'll say is:
You're wrong.

[OdinsEye]

"Only a fool would carry a loaded weapon."

Some cops and the miliary are fools?

"I was never in a situation that called for the use of deadly force. "

Millions have experiences like yours. Millions have experiences where a firearm made the difference and was instrumental in prevention of death or serious bodily injury.

[djkrlsn]

Just because HE has never needed to use deadly force does not mean he won't have to in the future or that others have not needed to do the same thing

[onepotatotwopotato]

Someone else please take over. I have other things to do.

[onepotatotwopotato]

We win!

[lianmolive]

The same people who use the 2nd amendment and vigorously supports the Constitution won't support our Constitution that does allow for same-sex marriage (hence the constitutional amendments banning this)? I wonder how they would react if suddenly the people amended the Constitution to ban firearms.

This supposed outreach is like the Right Xian Coalition urging gays to support anti-abortion on the basis that they might be aborted if their mother could somehow know her fetus was, in fact, gay.

[OdinsEye]

I am pro-Second Amendment and pro-same sex marriage. And I am not alone. But the Constitution does not make any provisions regarding marriage.

[JulieSA]

Reasonable question.

If you only drive on your own property, you don't need a driver's license or driver's ed, and you don't need those to own a car either. If you drive on a public road, you must have a license to do that.

Most people keep their guns at home or in their cars much of the time. People who want to carry concealed off their own property in most states are required to take a course which includes safety training. In my state, young hunters have to take hunter's ed to get a hunting license.

So in effect, in most states, people who want to have their gun with them in public have to take a course, just as those who drive in public do.

There are exceptions. In Vermont, for example, no one needs a license to carry a gun. Vermont also has a very low violent crime rate. Perhaps all states should adopt Vermont's law.

One more thing, voluntary training programs have already vastly the reduced the accidental shooting rate in the US. If you want to support these, give money to the NRA and other orgs who do this, and get the Eddie Eagle program into your kids' school.

[LintLass]

Or, if I'm not mistaken, the Pink Pistols. A gun's worse than useless for all these fears the Republicans play on if you aren't willing to learn the skills.

[noaxe397]

In AZ you can open carry without a license. The theory is if the gun is exposed, you know the person is armed and avoid confrontation or at least be prepared with your own weapon.

[JulieSA]

Oops. this comment was a reply to someone downthread.

[Cunningham]

So what was the question?

[JumpDownTurnAround]

I don't know, I dropped my bullets on the floor and had to pick them up and missed the question....

[Jeff1958]

Suuuuure, Vermont is just like New York City or Chicago or South Central LA, right?

[onepotatotwopotato]

All cultures are equal right?

[djkrlsn]

I would say the law people in NYC, South Central or Chitown are more likely to need a gun than most Vermonters

[jeremyfive]

I recall the incident when one of their right-wing loonies pulled up at the end of Christopher Street and started shooting gays randomly in the street.

Further gun proliferation misses the point entirely. But then, the Republican Party was founded on missing the point.

[jeremyfive]

Those boys in the Senate have been partying it up to much with the hookers, courtesy of David Vitter.

[noaxe397]

Can someone tell me where in USConst there is a right to self defense? I've read the document and I don't see those words so I was just wondering where this right comes from? I do not see the words in the 2nd, 9th or 10th amendment. I know there was a recent SCOTUS decision on this, but as we all know what SCOTUS says and what is actually in the USConst are often two different things. Granted, if SCOTUS ays it, it is law, period, but I was just wondering if someone could direct me to where the words right to self defense are in the USConst. Please do not post links to Heller, or links to legal inrerpretations of Heller or any other links unless they are to the passage I am looking for in the text of the USConst. I was just wondering if the right to selfdef was one of those penumbra rights, like right to privacy or abortion (also words that I can't find in USConst.) Thanks for the help.

[onepotatotwopotato]

The Constitution of the United States of America is not all inclusive. It doesn't say that you have a right to breath either.

[noaxe397]

Thanks for the help, guys. Just as I thought. I just hope you shoot straighter than you talk or think.

[KoolAidAmerica]

I think from the term "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

[Cunningham]

Preamble:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to... secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves..."


5th Amendment:
"No person shall be... nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;..."


10th Amendment:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

[Drumbum2112]

Lots of anger, lots of attacks, lots of irrelevant points, even some misplaced quotes, but no one was able to actually answer his question.

[noaxe397]

What really scares me is these are the people who think they are qualified to take a course, carry a concealed weapon and use it properly in an emergency situation.
Of course, there answer to that is: 2nd amendment!

[kathy001]

Any gay person who supports this without demanding reciprocity on gay marriage and gay rights legislation deserves what will naturally come to pass. When you lie down with dogs - ya-da ya-da ya.

[JulieSA]

2A rights are not a right-left issue. All citizens have these rights.

[kathy001]

Equal rights for all citizens should not be a left-right issue, either. If the GOP wants to use gays to promote their cause, gays should demand reciprocity.

[Jeff1958]

All citizens? Including Charles Manson?