Politicians are not always on the wrong side of an issue

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Niner
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Politicians are not always on the wrong side of an issue

Post by Niner » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:24 am

After various officials took arms from citizens in New Orleans after Katrina at least one state saw the wrong in that. The Alabama legislature got around to seeing that it doesn't happen in Alabama in the future under the name of a disaster order necessity. There was no vote cast against the bill and it passed 101-0.

http://www.al.com/press-register/storie ... xml&coll=3
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markinalpine
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Good for Alabama's Legislature

Post by markinalpine » Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:00 pm

Everybody else, unless you live in New Jersey or Californicata, get busy writing your state reps and senators, if your state doesn't alsready have such a law.

I do have to take exception to one thing in this article, though:

(By Rep. Mark Keahey, D-Grove Hill),

"The Second Amendment gives us a constitutional right to bear arms, and this bill is just an effort, on Alabama's part, to help us maintain that right," Keahey said.

No, God gives us our rights. The US Constitution is supposed to protect those rights.

Just me on my soap box,

Mark :TX:
Any way you sell it,
No matter how you spell it,
When you start to smell it,
BO Stinks!
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Niner
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I see things a little different

Post by Niner » Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:34 pm

No, God gives us our rights. The US Constitution is supposed to protect those rights.
The Constitution was written by men a couple centuries ago seeking to define a republican form of government. It continues to be interpolated by legislation and interpreted by judicial process. I think Keahy is on the right track and our rights ultimately will reflect what our representative form of government provides. We need more men like Keahy. We can't depend on God.
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markinalpine
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I was trying to compliment the legislature of Alabama...

Post by markinalpine » Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:40 am

,,,not get into some religious argument. I also believe, not just in the existence of God, but also the principle that "God helps those who help themselves." That's why I obtained a Concealed Handgun License. I can carry a pistol, I can't carry a cop. Or, in case of emergency, dial 1911.

Nevertheless, to quote from Thomas Jefferson, and others: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,..."

I agree that we need more men to stand up to the bigotry and stupidity of anti-civil rights politicians at all levels of government, and that the civil right to protect ones life, which I believe is given to us by a supreme being, referred to many as God, is supposed to be protected by our constitution, which is supposed to be followed by our elected officials, who have to be carefully watched by us. Just my belief.

Again, my congratulations to the legislature of Alabama.

Mark :TX:

ps, one more, keep your powder dry. :mrgreen:
Any way you sell it,
No matter how you spell it,
When you start to smell it,
BO Stinks!
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Niner
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Well argued

Post by Niner » Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:35 am

However, it was seen in the beginning that some adjustment of individual liberty must be made in order to promote the greatest good. That's where the law makers and law interpreters come in.

George Washington wrote this to the Continental Congress in 1787.
It is obviously impractical in the federal government of these states, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the interest and safety of all: Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well on situation and circumstances, as on the object to be obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered, and those which may be reserved; and on the present occasion this difficulty was encreased by a difference among the several states as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular interests. In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence.
The complete text is here:

http://www.pbs.org/georgewashington/col ... sep17.html

As we all know a "difference among the several states as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular interests" was the cause of the great Civil War. And although that question at the state level was answered in blood the configuration of individual liberty in any number of questions never will end but continually be redrawn. Gun rights are one of these questions.
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