GreatLakes
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2015
People always ask why a mentally unstable person was allowed to own a gun but gun ownership is a constitutional right. It is no different than the right to free speech, freedom of religion, or the right against illegal search and seizure.
Are we comfortable taking away a person's rights because they are mentally ill? Do we decide no more 5th amendment for you person with mental health issues?
It should be just as hard to strip away someone's second amendment rights as it is their first or any other right and I really hope we keep it hard for anyone to lose any of their constitutional rights.
That could be done only because there was no constitutional right to purchase ammonium nitrate. It is, and should be, much harder to limit a person's access to something they are constitutionally granted. Rights are not privileges, they are guarantees you have to work very hard, and go through due process, to lose.
ETA: I don't like mass shootings any more than the next person, and don't own a gun, but I think our constitutional rights are important and I don't want it easy to lose any of them due to mental illness. And what do we do about people who are perfectly normal and develop some mental illness later in life? Do we have to start proving every x years that we are still mentally healthy enough for our rights? That doesn't sound like a country I want to live it.
Are we comfortable taking away a person's rights because they are mentally ill? Do we decide no more 5th amendment for you person with mental health issues?
It should be just as hard to strip away someone's second amendment rights as it is their first or any other right and I really hope we keep it hard for anyone to lose any of their constitutional rights.
So, this was another mentally disturbed guy with a legal firearm. He was a Marine with extensive firearm training and a history of mental illness who refused to seek help but was allowed to own a firearm. There is a serious problem in our country.
@MrsPete, AFTER McVeigh bombed the Murrah Federal Building laws were put in place to limit the sale of ammonium nitrate.
That could be done only because there was no constitutional right to purchase ammonium nitrate. It is, and should be, much harder to limit a person's access to something they are constitutionally granted. Rights are not privileges, they are guarantees you have to work very hard, and go through due process, to lose.
ETA: I don't like mass shootings any more than the next person, and don't own a gun, but I think our constitutional rights are important and I don't want it easy to lose any of them due to mental illness. And what do we do about people who are perfectly normal and develop some mental illness later in life? Do we have to start proving every x years that we are still mentally healthy enough for our rights? That doesn't sound like a country I want to live it.
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