# Where are all the 2nd Amendment people now that Trump has said his "authority is total"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805 "2020-04-14T23:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/21 "2020-04-15T05:07:53Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > According to the artist, “I wanted to paint a picture of President Trump and Melania on a jacked-up motorcycle, painted up with the American flag and patriotism, as they ride down a bumpy, crumbling road that represents the hazards and the problems that this presidency has faced since Trump has been elected.” Another interpretation of such an image would be that’s what the orange clown has turned the country into: a crumbling road. Hey, he should probably add a post office with an “Closed by order of management” sign on it to make the painting even more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/22 "2020-04-15T05:11:54Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Ben Shapiro has long been critical of Trump. Not to the extent of anyone on the left, of course, but he criticizes Trump constantly for things he disagrees with. (And praises him for other things too.) > > Trump’s pronouncement of total authority is worse than any gaffe I’ve ever heard attributed to Biden. It’s not a gaffe. Asking if the pulled pork is kosher is a gaffe. Declaring one’s authority to be total is authoritarian. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/23 "2020-04-15T05:14:18Z")
I think I prefer this painting he did: [https://jonmcnaughton.com/patriotic/americana/all-american-trump/](https://jonmcnaughton.com/patriotic/americana/all-american-trump/) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/24 "2020-04-15T08:12:58Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > It’s not a gaffe. Asking if the pulled pork is kosher is a gaffe. Declaring one’s authority to be total is authoritarian. To make it more hypothetical: “Asking if the pulled pork is kosher is a gaffe; declaring by presidential authority that it _is_ kosher is authoritarian.” ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/25 "2020-04-15T08:27:12Z")
To the OP: I suggest that if Trump is pressed on this, he will once again use the strategy of creating a Distinction Without a Difference, as he did when he had to take back calling the coronavirus matter “their latest hoax”. It’s a common technique used by accomplished liars. There, the distinction was between calling the _seriousness of_ the coronavirus a Democratic hoax (which he did), and calling the virus \*itself \*a hoax (which he didn’t do, and AFAIK no one accused him of). Here, I could see him saying, “I meant total authority regarding _public health matters_–I never said it included taking guns away–we weren’t talking about guns–yada yada”. It would only convince the base, but that’s always the point. Even that would be bullshit, because here he’s invoking the alleged authority to re-open the economy, in direct opposition to the advice of public health experts; i.e., he’s claiming he has total authority to keep the economy from crashing (further) so he can get re-elected. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/26 "2020-04-15T08:31:51Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > And the quotes you made that contradict each other are even shorter. Especially when the relevant bit was cut out… > [@](#): > > (although he has said something close to that which I quoted later in the thread) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/27 "2020-04-15T15:17:31Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Especially when the relevant bit was cut out… I do not even know what you all are arguing about. Certainly not anything I said in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/28 "2020-04-15T16:18:44Z")
nm. dp. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/29 "2020-04-15T16:20:39Z")
They’re arguing about **Atamasama** ’s mischaracterizations of your posts. **Chisquirrel** is taking your side, there. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/30 "2020-04-15T22:17:46Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Yesterday president Trump proclaimed he has some pretty exceptional powers as president: > > Of course that is complete bullshit but I guarantee you if president Obama had said that while in office the NRA and a lot of 2nd Amendment people would be racing to gun stores to stock up on guns and ammo. Hell, Obama said a lot more tame stuff than this and gun sales would soar (happened more than once). > > Isn’t this _exactly_ the sort of thing they tell us why the 2nd Amendment is there and important? To protect us from a government that would try to take their freedoms away? > > Well, there ya go. You have the president of the US claiming he has dictatorial power. > > What do we get from the NRA and gun folks? > > _ **crickets chirping** _ > > Tl;Dr Gun rights nuts are full of shit making specious arguments for why they absolutely must have their guns. In other news water is wet. I am a gun rights guy and i think Trump is full of shit. I never thought Obama was a threat to anything more than my second amendment rights. I think Trump is a threat to all my rights. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/31 "2020-04-15T22:20:50Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Ben Shapiro has long been critical of Trump. Not to the extent of anyone on the left, of course, but he criticizes Trump constantly for things he disagrees with. (And praises him for other things too.) > > Trump’s pronouncement of total authority is worse than any gaffe I’ve ever heard attributed to Biden. Ben Shapiro of 5-10 years ago was what i would call a principled conservative. Now he has this huge audience and he has to throw red meat around on a regular basis and these days that means praising Trump as much as his ethics will allow. He has stopped criticizing the more horrible behavior on the right and referring to these horrible incidents as rare events. I really used to respect the guy but now he is making too much money to stop throwing red meat to the delusional aspects of the right. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2020, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/32 "2020-04-15T22:35:58Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > I am a gun rights guy and i think Trump is full of shit. I never thought Obama was a threat to anything more than my second amendment rights. I think Trump is a threat to all my rights. [Obama’s Gun Record Basically Consists Of Expanding Gun Owners’ Rights](https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-laws-obama-has-signed-2012-12) [QUOTE] One of those pro-gun laws took effect in February 2010 and allows people to carry loaded firearms into the Grand Canyon and other national parks, according to the AP. The other major pro-gun law Obama signed allows Amtrak passengers to carry guns in checked baggage, reversing a ban that was put in place after 9/11, according to USA Today. In addition to signing pro-gun laws, the Chicago Tribune has pointed out, Obama also failed to make good on a campaign promise to close a loophole that let some people buy guns without background checks. It’s not so shocking then that the Brady Campaign gave Obama an F in January 2010.]/QUOTE] Those two bans were put in place by Reagan and Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/33 "2020-04-16T00:19:30Z")
Again, as with other Chump utterances, if Obama had said anything even remotely like this, Republicans including the Second Amendment gun fuckers would have been all over him. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/34 "2020-04-16T00:34:58Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Again, as with other Chump utterances, if Obama had said anything even remotely like this, Republicans including the Second Amendment gun fuckers would have been all over him. Even Brett Baier [admits as much](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pgL8nrLH0A&t=). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/35 "2020-04-16T03:17:49Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Obama’s Gun Record Basically Consists Of Expanding Gun Owners’ Rights](https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-laws-obama-has-signed-2012-12) To add to this: [The Greatest Gun Salesman In America: President Barack Obama](https://ammo.com/articles/obama-greatest-gun-salesman-in-america-infographic) It is truly remarkable how ass-backwards so many gun owners are. They are literally, completely, [mis-identifying the threat to them.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5wryDdEI0) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/36 "2020-04-16T08:37:07Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > To add to this: > > [The Greatest Gun Salesman In America: President Barack Obama](https://ammo.com/articles/obama-greatest-gun-salesman-in-america-infographic) > > It is truly remarkable how ass-backwards so many gun owners are. They are literally, completely, [mis-identifying the threat to them.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO5wryDdEI0) Gee, what was it about Obama that alarmed so many NRA members? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/37 "2020-04-16T16:24:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If his authority is total, there is no right to bear arms. There are no rights at all, except for his. > > I cannot find ANY Republican who has objected to his claim of total authority, except for, for some reason, Ben Shapiro. \ I am a Republican [registered since 1979, when I turned 18] and I object, and have been objecting all along. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/38 "2020-04-16T16:37:49Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > \ I am a Republican [registered since 1979, when I turned 18] and I object, and have been objecting all along. That’s great. Who will you pull the lever for in November is where the rubber meets the road. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/39 "2020-04-16T18:15:03Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > No 2nd Amendment people are going to say anything. Because the only right they will defend against is their right to have guns. This! It’s totally circular. They need guns to protect their freedoms, and the freedom in question that they need the guns for in order to defend is the freedom to own and play with firearms. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805/40 "2020-04-16T18:15:45Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > You mean this guy: > > [https://jonmcnaughton.com/](https://jonmcnaughton.com/) > > It doesn’t appear that he’s painting happy little trees. Looks like this one (titled “The Impeachment Mob”) is his latest: > > [Patriotic - Americana - The Impeachment Mob - McNaughton Fine Art](https://jonmcnaughton.com/patriotic/americana/the-impeachment-mob/) > > Another noteworthy one would be this one (titled “MAGA Ride”): > > [MAGA Ride - 24X36 inch Limited Edition Giclee Canvas Print, Signed and Numbered (200) - McNaughton Fine Art](https://jonmcnaughton.com/maga-ride-24x36-inch-limited-edition-giclee-canvas-print-signed-and-numbered-200/) > > According to the artist, “I wanted to paint a picture of President Trump and Melania on a jacked-up motorcycle, painted up with the American flag and patriotism, as they ride down a bumpy, crumbling road that represents the hazards and the problems that this presidency has faced since Trump has been elected.” > > So, no happy little trees, but he’s been keeping busy anyway. Wow, if you wanted to do a parody of Trump-humping conservative propaganda, you would be hard-pressed to do a better job than this guy. Also, I’d like to know what type of person pays $400 for a canvas of a liberal lynch mob (one that includes Mitt Romney BTW), and hangs it up in their living room, as if it were a nice still life of flowers or a mountain landscape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-all-the-2nd-amendment-people-now-that-trump-has-said-his-authority-is-total/851805.md?page=3)