Comments

1
I just want to know where that "well regulated" part fits in.

And, if anyone ever starts babbling to you about the Intelligent Designer, please ask him what's so intelligent about making idiots like this.
2
oh look

danny can be as tedious as goldy!
3
These stories are all terrible, but the new phrase definitely makes a strong and clear point. It just might catch on.
5
Occasionally the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of toddlers and grade-schoolers.
6
No charges are anticipated. Oh, Floriduh.
7
@1: The text of the amendment is:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The Supreme Court has read this as you likely would parse the following sentence:
"Some people are having bad days, so you should be nice to people."

The first part of the sentence is a partial explanation for the second part, but the first part isn't required to leave the second part standing on its own; you should still be nice to people.

I'm not stating an opinion on whether that's a good reading or not; that's just the conclusion that they came to.
8
An ardent and long-term support for all the amendments, even the 2nd but I'm good with an adjustment that anyone dumb enough to clean a loaded gun should lose theirs!

To clarify: a single accidental miss-fire is sloppy but not impossible. However, to fire a second time means he didn't even unload the gun.
9
@7: eloquently stated explanation. and still antiquated.
10
I really don't think 12 year old girls belong in a well regulated militia, but their 18+ sisters are welcome to join my hedonist army.
11
No one was killed--what a delightful heartwarming story!
12
@7 A good example of why strict constructionism is bullshit.
13
...Aaaaaaand the NRA will be there to fight any law that takes guns away from certified fuckheads like this guy.
14
The Second Amendment was ratified to preserve slave patrols, kids.

More souls taken to sate the appetite of the Gun Fetish Death Cult.
15
how bout starting with respecting the first amendment by not abusing the rights that many hold dearly

when a loud mouth abuses the right to free speech it's just your typical American, an ignorant asshole

when a journalist abuses the right to free speech I realize how fucked up my country's become. And to think I once looked up to you as a voice of reason for equality

your tabloid reporting fucking sucks
16
@15 I'm trying to figure out how Dan is abusing his journalistic right to free speech here.

Are you saying that the guy is NOT a complete idiot and unworthy of a firearm license after trying to clean a loaded gun and shooting not only an innocent bystander, but himself?
17
@14, if you tell that lie often enough, maybe somebody will eventually believe you.
18
I was hoping this would be much more sensational. "Man accidentally discharges gun, striking passerby. Dismayed and distraught at endangering/injuring a child, immediately places the gun to his head and pulls the trigger." You know, something like the final scene of "In Bruges".
19
@7 & 9 This reading, where the "prefatory clause" basically gets read out of the 2nd Amendment, was adopted by the Supreme Court in 2001, and was the result of a couple decades of intense lobbying by the NRA to establish an individual, rather than collective, right to possess guns. This is not an antique, it is a fairly radical and recent development.

@12 None of this is really "strict constructionism" (you know, if words actually mean things), although Scalia & co. have based their careers on selling it as such. The grammar experts mostly agree that, in the common usage at the time of the drafting of the Constitution, the introductory clause would be an essential and limiting condition to the entire amendment. Not to mention that the Bill of Rights only applies to state governments because of the 14th Amendment and a lot of convoluted but fairly well-intentioned case law interpreting the 14th Amendment. The idea that any of the founders thought that the Second Amendment would prevent state governments from regulating guns, or banning them entirely, is just absurd.
20
There's always something missing from these stories. This guy was either drunk, high, or suffering from a seriously low IQ. He broke basically every single common sense safety rule you can break. How can this guy not be arrested for his extreme negligence?
21
You are right Tam, I owe a little more of an explanation, the article that Dan linked to is so poorly written it could be mistaken for some sort of Urban Dictionary's definition of sex acts and despite the public's awareness of it, the media and journalists are very aware they are largely responsible for the opinion --- or at least the framed view --- of what is considered mainstream consensus

which in a broken democracy damn near equals control of the ballot casting majority

and until the broken democracy is fixed and the True Voice of the People can utter a word, I hold the press largely responsible for the state of the world

I find that these days, when an editor publishes anything but clear, concise truth, they fall on the side of abuse rather than exercise when it comes to arguably the most sacred of all amendments --- The First --- in the Bill of Rights

and so I have little to no tolerance for anything but the reporting of facts. Facts should not be politicized, as doing so leads to a confused public who often wrongly identifies an enemy when there is none

a confused public justifies the same or worse atrocities against humanity, immediately after a necessary revolution

Rest Assured I am not worried about becoming a casualty of an unnecessary war,
22
@17

Gee, I guess you can't accuse me of lying about the NRA doing their utmost to make sure this fuckhead keeps his guns, huh?
23
Just for perspective…
Unintentional deaths, 2010
Motor Vehicle / 37,236
Poisoning / 33,041
Fall / 26,009
Suffocation / 6,165
Drowning / 3,782
Fire / 2,845
Environmental / 1,576
Struck by or against / 788
Firearm / 606
Machinery / 590
Cut/pierce / 105
http://prospect.org/article/hey-bert-thi…

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