by Cylinsier
The NRA, which is the National Rifle Association, has publicly come out against Supreme Court Justice Nominee Sonia Sotomayor based on what they claim is an anti-second amendment record of court rulings. The NRA has claimed that any Senator who votes in favor of her will be given a negative rating by the NRA, which means the organization will throw its collective gun-rights weight behind any politicians running against them in future elections, at least in a worst case scenario. The many Democrats and handful of Republicans who have made it clear that they will be supporting Sotomayor have responded by grunting, then swatting away at their ear as if a small fly were bothering them before going on with their daily activities, having already forgotten about the event. So what does this say about the NRA?
There's another organization out there that goes to great lengths to make its voice heard and typically gets ignored. That is PETA. Is PETA fighting for a bad cause? Of course not. Animals deserve to be treated humanely, even the ones we eat. There is no reason to be cruel to animals, even the ones we will eventually slaughter and eat, because it doesn't benefit us in anyway and its just not the morally correct thing to do. The same argument can be made about the NRA. I personally believe that the second amendment clearly guarantees Americans the right to own and legally use firearms. There may be specific regulations and exceptions that I would like to see, but in general people should be allowed to buy guns. Almost all conservatives and many liberals, or in other words a clear majority, agree with me. This doesn't change the fact that the NRA has become the PETA of gun rights. Its like starting an organization in favor of the right to free speech and then demonstrating by running through the halls of an elementary school shouting, "fucking fuck!" Not only are you not gaining additional support for an already well-supported belief, you're pissing off the people that actually agree with you.
Those of you who are worried that Sotomayor's successful nomination will mean the government is going to bust down your door and take your guns, consider a few facts. First, consider that Sotomayor is replacing an equally liberal Justice. This means that even if she is a secret anti-gun spy, its not going to accomplish anything. The makeup of the court will remain identical. Second, if you're not hyper-paranoid (and if you are, I would appreciate it if you didn't own a gun anyway), then you can take a quick look at Sotomayor's rulings on gun rights yourself and while you will see that they tend to fall on the "control" side, they are for the most part objective rulings that uphold previous precedents as opposed to boogeyman judge lawmaking.
Finally, consider the current administration's record on gun rights so far. Remember the DC gun ban? Remember who was President when it got overturned? And Remember what Obama had said himself many times on gun laws? Here's a quote: "...I believe that the Second Amendment is an individual right..." Not taken out of context, just snipped because the preceding and succeeding language was irrelevant to the point and referred to the Supreme Court's recent decision on gun laws. So, gun rights folks, don't hide under your bed with your .45s and your Winchesters. You have nothing to worry about. And NRA...well, maybe its time to reevaluate your organization because as far as Congress is concerned, you're no longer relevant.
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