So your argument is not only that the pro-gun rights crowd has the burden of proof of arguing against your purse-clutching hypotheticals, but also that “the actual events have shown that these hypotheticals did not come to pass” does not constitute that counterargument.
Yes, you’re definitely looking for a good-faith discussion here…
No, I meant it seriously. Take away everything else police are trained in that’s non-firearms related and ask how much more competent are they solely on the subject of firearms, and police suddenly don’t look so special. Under close control? Your previous post was about the “stealth” gun misuser who suddenly shows his true colors. How do police departments guard against such specimens? Once they get out of the academy, most police will not face a department psychologist again unless an incident occurs. Police can and do commit assault and domestic violence. The idea that police are hyper-trustworthy paladins is disproved by news stories almost every week. That police are by and large mostly trustworthy is because your average middle class citizen is by and large mostly trustworthy. What you can say about a police officer is that he probably isn’t flat-out psychotic, didn’t enter the academy with a felony record, and isn’t grossly incompetent. In other words, pretty much the same as anyone who can qualify for a Shall Issue carry permit.
I have. So…you got nuffin. Thanks for playing…we have some lovely parting gifts, such as this real straw colored ceramic dog, plus your very own board game version of the Straight Dope…
Anti-gun types typically overestimate the general level of training and competency WRT cops and guns. Annual/semi-annual qualification in most agencies is retard easy and there is little to no mandated training after the academy. When I was a deputy sheriff I was one of the best shots on the staff; those of us at the top trained on our own time and money.
I wonder, do they disagree with any other landmark Supreme Court decision that incorporates any other part of the Bill of Rights? The answer, of course, is no.
For an organization that takes great pride in their unabashed defense of the Bill of Rights, this constitutes a serious misstep in their thinking.
I was looking for a cite for your claim “To this day the ACLU refuses to concede that the 2nd means what it means even in light of Heller and McDonald,” which a four-year-old citation obviously does not support. AFAIK, this current position of the national ACLU is under discussion, while affiliates are left to proceed as they please.
Well, “landmark Supreme Court decision that incorporates any other part of the Bill of Rights” is nearly incomprehensible as a phrase. If you mean something like “important court decision stating the scope of rights under the Bill of Rights,” you’d be quite wrong. If you mean something else, I’m not sure what it is.
There are lots of rights contained in the Bill of Rights that the ACLU does not generally get involved in, because while they represent constitutional rights they are not regarded as civil liberties. Takings and the right to a civil jury, to name two examples (though both kinds cases, like the rights of gun owners, are occasionally litigated by the ACLU).
“Incorporation” has a specific meaning in the law; it refers to the Supreme Court holding that some provision of the Bill of Rights restrains state governments, not just the federal government.
Some landmark incorporation cases include Gitlow, incorporating free speech and press protections in 1925, and Mapp, incorporating the exclusionary rule implications of the Fourth Amendment in 1961.
Heller was definitely an incorporation case, in reference to the Second Amendment.
I think what Der Trihs was trying to say is that people will vote for the party that promises to let them (us) keep their (our) guns – and those politicians will pass laws that are harmful to our rights. For example, ISTM that our freedoms have been eroded by such things as the easing of rules against searching our telephone records, emails, financial records, medical records, and even what we check out from a library.
Yeah,a four-year-old citation that has been updated to include Heller and McDonald, decisions that were made more recently than four years ago, from their own website.
As for my statement, I mean exactly what I said. Every right that has been incorporated has come from a Supreme Court decision, and every one of those cases has been a “landmark” case for that very reason. I’d like to see a cite, if you can find one, where the ACLU disagrees with the Supreme Court on a case that incorporated any other part of the Bill of Rights. Surely they aren’t happy with that pesky “freedom of speech” provision and think that SCOTUS decided wrongly, right? Any other example outside of the Second Amendment will do. And I wish you luck finding one, because they don’t exist. Hell, just find me one other incorporated right that they don’t support.
You’ve got a bit backwards. Incorporation is application of the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. *Heller *was not a case involving incorporation, as it was about application of the Second Amendment to the federal government (D.C.).
All of which is beside the point, which is that it was not clear what AD was trying to say by "“landmark Supreme Court decision that incorporates any other part of the Bill of Rights.”
You persist in being wrong, and being self-righteous about it. Check your citation again, my friend.
I’m not sure what you think you mean by by “incorporated right,” and whether you think disagreeing over the scope of the right constitutes “don’t support.” If you can explain both things, I’ll be happy to help.
Ok. Do you care to explain it to me, if I’m the only confused one? Is he talking about cases identifying a new right, or about cases incorporating existing rights through the 14th Amendment? If the latter, why is that subset important?
Here’s some evidence supporting my recollection that there is no national ACLU policy still in force, and some state affiliates (who are what most people think of when they talk about cases the ACLU brings) have begun litigating Second Amendment cases.
That’s an interesting thought. Maybe people should stop focusing on curtailing the proliferation of firearms and move on to something that’s actually important.