Saturday, September 06, 2008
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Obama On Guns
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Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
12:48 AM
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There was a lot of audio today, including Barack Obama's tutorial on the Second Amendment, which began with his declaration that he believed the Second Amendment was an "individual right," and which concluded with what was intended to be the reassuring declaration that there was no need to worry because he didn't have the votes he needed in Congress to take away your guns even if he wanted to. Which he doesn't want to. He just wants to take away the guns of kids in inner city Philadelphia. Though he neglected to provide us with the test for determining which people can have guns in Philly and which can't. A difficult standard to articulate, yes, but since he obviously has something in mind, he may want to share it with us.
Two points.
First, "his" view on the Second Amendment is irrelevant. The Supreme Court declared the Second Amendment to be an individual right. Imagine Obama saying "My view is that you have the right to believe whatever you want about God."
Second, Obama's understanding of what "individual right" means is suspect when he, in nearly the same breath, asserts that gun rights can be modified by Congressional action. Not some gun rights in some circumstances, but all guns from all people.
UPDATE: Here's the exact quote on the reality in the Congress:
“Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress."
Again, some right when all it takes to remove anyone's gun is a statute.
For more details on the Obama ramble, see this account which oddly left off Obama's aside about Congress.
It was classic Obama: He said next to nothing at great length but tried very hard to make it sound deeply thoughtful when it was in fact nonsense.
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