Strait talk

Inalienable rights can not be repealed. They can't be taken away, and they can't even be surrendered. If the 2nd Amendment is removed from the Constitution it does not change the rights of American citizens. It doesn't change the rights of North Korean citizens. Rights don't come from parchment, and they aren't bestowed by governments. "Inalienable" isn't a word that is used very much, but it was intentionally used by the authors and signers of the Declaration of Independence. A government may oppress its citizens, or it may defend the rights of citizens, but there is no scenario in which a government may rule rights out of existence.

There has recently been an increase in calls by some on the left for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Tragically, the de-Americanization of our culture has reached a point at which many Americans are quite literally asking for oppression. Compounding the tragedy is the fact that they don't have any idea what they are asking for. As they seek what Samuel Adams called the "tranquility of servitude" they pose a very real danger of bringing us all into a real servitude for a false tranquility.

The American divide was illustrated yesterday by Obama's rambling discussion of executive action on gun control - illustrated by the fact that the American left and right no longer speak the same language. The words may be the same, but their meanings come from different dictionaries. When Obama says those in the business of selling firearms must get a license and conduct background checks, gun-rights supporters roll their eyes and say that is already the law. The problem is that Obama doesn't mean the same thing when he says "business" that gun-rights supporters assume that he does. He did not say "if you're a business that sells firearms", he said "If you're in the business of selling firearms". The nuance is intentional. Obama is talking about ending the private transfer of firearms between individuals. No more selling or loaning a firearm to a family member. No more passing down guns to the kids or grand kids.

It's dangerous to assume that the President of the United States doesn't know that transactions through internet firearms dealers are subject to the same rules that transactions through brick-and-mortar gun stores are subject to. He knows what he is saying. His comment was directed at the internet and the transfer, not the parties involved in the transfer. Private gun sales can currently be made on-line. The President knows that the "gun-show loophole" is simply gun-grabber-speak for private gun sales. Private party gun sales on the internet, at the gun-show, through the local classifieds, or to your friend at the hunting camp are the business of selling firearms that Obama is talking about. Ending legal private sales is a target of the gun control lobby.

Another nuanced section of Obama's statement was with regards to the "mentally ill". The statements were crafted to sound like an effort to stake out some common ground with gun-rights supporters that have been pointing out the common thread of severe mental illness in mass shooters. But what gun-rights supporters, and the anti-gun crowd mean by mental illness is quite different. Gun-rights supporters look at psychotics whose sense of reality is broken, while gun-control advocates have focused on veterans being treated for PTSD, or older folks that need help balancing their checkbook. If there is a study that shows that a skewed sense of reality is somehow contributing to grandpa's fading math skills, I haven't seen it.

If someone needs medication to recognize that they are not really God, Napoleon, or a gerbil, attempting to remove all of the dangerous objects from society is not a serious or rational response to any danger they may pose. When Obama can shed a tear or two for the mentally ill and wants to start a national discussion on the topic that doesn't start with an assault on gun rights, he'll be closer to the common ground he's ostensibly looking for. Until then, it seems more likely that this is all just an effort to get as many guns out of circulation as possible. But that's just my translation.