Control

I find myself strangely in synch with a train of thought attributed to Hillary Clinton in a National Journal article:
She decried new laws proliferating across the country that allow people to carry weapons in churches, bars, and other public places, saying that they will only lead to more deadly violence that could otherwise be avoided. "At the rate we're going, we're going to have so many people with guns," she continued, "in settings where … [they] decide they have a perfect right to defend themselves against the gum chewer or the cell-phone talker."
I'd rephrase it:
She decried new laws proliferating across the country that allow people to outsource their increasingly petty and intrusive personal preferences to an armed police force, saying that the new raft of Nanny State laws will only lead to more deadly violence that could otherwise be avoided. "At the rate we're going, we're going to have so many intrusive laws enforced in our names by police with guns," she continued, "in settings where … [they] decide they have a perfect right to defend themselves against the gum chewer or the cell-phone talker or the Big-Gulp drinker or the wood fireplace user or the guy with unapproved health insurance."

5 comments:

Gringo said...

Well done.

MikeD said...

Two things she needs to be told:

1) In the Heller decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment asserts a positive personal right to bear arms.

2) Shall Not Be Infringed is pretty stinking clear.

Grim said...

So is Congress shall make no law, and yet still somehow....

E Hines said...

[T]he Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment asserts a positive personal right to bear arms.

A small quibble: The Supremes acknowledged that the 2nd Amendment asserts a positive personal right..., regardless of how Scalia phrased the opinion.

Shall not be infringed and shall make no law also means we've got a number of employees that need repealing and replacing.

I also suggest that amending the Constitution from the bench is a violation of the judges' (and Justices') oath of office, with all that that implies.

Eric Hines

Anonymous said...

Odd. I've been tempted to remove the cell-phone from the person's hand, march out of the theater, and give the blasted thing to a theater manager for safe keeping, but never to shoot the rude [redacted] who insists on narrating the film to the person at the other end of the call.

LittleRed1