The New York congresswoman, who is known for her liberal stance and activism, blasted previous accusations of a ‘two-tiered justice system’ from the GOP
Okay, yes, under the law that currently exists, Hunter Biden was absolutely guilty.
On the other hand…
Doesn’t it strike people as just a little bit fucked up that you can lose a fundamental constitutional right that easily? Should you lose the right to, say, vote if you smoke pot (which is still illegal under federal law!)? Should you lose the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, with legal representation, if you’re addicted to Oxy? Should you be forced to go to an evangelical, Christian nationalist church if you’re an alcoholic? There’s a pretty decent argument that conviction of a violent crime–including misdemeanor domestic battery–should cause you to lose your 2A rights. But this isn’t a case of someone being convicted of anything.
I do not think that we should tolerate any slavery, including those convicted of a crime. Nor should we remove the rights of those convicted of crimes. Incarceration as a profit mechanism only leads to exploitation.
Agree on all points. I’ll go farther and say that we need to be working towards rehabilitating people, rather than just warehousing them. The way we handle felons now encourages recidivism.
Counterpoint, no rights are absolute. There are conditions and restrictions on every “fundamental constitutional right.” Freedom of speech does not include slander or inciting violence. Freedom of religion does not protect abuse or acts of violence. Freedom to bear arms does not include weapons of war or negligent behavior.
Addiction is a medical condition, and should not be treated by criminal courts. On the other hand, addiction does undermine an individual’s rational thinking. Should addicts be permitted to carry firearms? I don’t think that is an unreasonable restriction.
The problem with my argument is that I don’t think our restrictions on gun ownership go nearly far enough. Addiction is a problem, but it’s not the most pressing problem we have related to gun violence.
Counterpoint, no rights are absolute. There are conditions and restrictions on every “fundamental constitutional right.”
Further to that point, rights come with responsibilities. If you are going to forfeit those responsibilities to society then you are going to also forfeit some of the associated rights granted by society.
Counter-counterpoint: restricting rights after completion of a judicial sentence prevents convicts from reintegrating into society, which increases the odds of recidivism. If you want people to choose to act responsibly, they need to have the opportunity to do so.
I think that Hunter was only prosecuted for this crime because of who his father is. A real witch hunt. But at the same time, I’m not losing any sleep over it. He broke the law, and he’s someone with a lot of resources at his disposal and should have known better.
As for the law itself, I think the law should exist, but the potential punishment of 25 years is absurd.
I do think that keeping guns out of easy, legal, access of active drug abusers is appropriate. But as you say, without a conviction, the scope of those restrictions should be narrow and appeal-able.
And the punishment for being untruthful on a checkbox of an application should be a slap on the wrist. Confiscation of the firearm(s), and maybe community service. It should be the governments job to do proper screening, not the applicants job to screen themselves out.
But like I said before, I’m not going to lose any sleep over this, even if I do think it’s an unfair punishment for an arbitrarily enforced law, on someone targeted by a cult simply because of his family.
I do think that keeping guns out of easy, legal, access of active drug abusers is appropriate. But as you say, without a conviction, the scope of those restrictions should be narrow and appeal-able.
Considering that the form 4473 that you have to sign to purchase a firearm makes no mention of alcohol, I think this is hypocritical, at best. What’s the difference between alcoholics owning a firearm, and heroin addicts owning a firearm? All I know is that I would be way less worried about the junkie gun owner than a raging alcoholic gun owner.
Its a dumb law, that was probably spawned from racism. Nobody should have their gun rights removed if they did not do or threaten anything violent.
I absolutely disagree with keeping guns away from drug users (edit: for using drugs alone). Almost every American has a drug addiction, to caffeine at a minimum. Drugs can be safely handled as well as firearms. I believe that courses should be required that include training on proper safety and storage of firearms before purchase though, which should include warning about handling a firearm while intoxicated.
I was drinking with friends one time a while ago and one of my close friends, who’s in the navy, had his handgun with him. He didn’t see an issue with getting drunk with his gun on him. Luckily we all convinced him to put it aside somewhere safe until he’s sober, which he argued about but conceded. Why is it legal to use alcohol and have a firearm (and be in the military even) but not something like pot?
You should be considered for losing access to a firearm upon abusing that right by endangering someone or mishandling one. You shouldn’t lose it because the government decided to target a certain segment of society to disarm.
Doesn’t it strike people as just a little bit fucked up that you can lose a fundamental constitutional right that easily?
Google “the Mulford Act”. Republicans loved chasing poc around for owning or displaying guns, all up and down California, back in the 60s and 70s when the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak.
Its definitely fucked up. But its all part of the grand kabuki theater of criminal justice in our country. Build up a hysterical fear of Other People so you can give the police something to do. Then use the parade of prosecutions as proof that (a) crime is out of control and (b) we absolutely need to gut more public services so we can put a bigger and more heavily armed police force on the street.
Should you lose the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, with legal representation, if you’re addicted to Oxy? Should you be forced to go to an evangelical, Christian nationalist church if you’re an alcoholic? There’s a pretty decent argument that conviction of a violent crime–including misdemeanor domestic battery–should cause you to lose your 2A rights. But this isn’t a case of someone being convicted of anything.
You can find instances of all of the above tried by various state and local courts in the US.
Okay, yes, under the law that currently exists, Hunter Biden was absolutely guilty.
On the other hand…
Doesn’t it strike people as just a little bit fucked up that you can lose a fundamental constitutional right that easily? Should you lose the right to, say, vote if you smoke pot (which is still illegal under federal law!)? Should you lose the right to a trial by a jury of your peers, with legal representation, if you’re addicted to Oxy? Should you be forced to go to an evangelical, Christian nationalist church if you’re an alcoholic? There’s a pretty decent argument that conviction of a violent crime–including misdemeanor domestic battery–should cause you to lose your 2A rights. But this isn’t a case of someone being convicted of anything.
I do not think that we should tolerate any slavery, including those convicted of a crime. Nor should we remove the rights of those convicted of crimes. Incarceration as a profit mechanism only leads to exploitation.
Agree on all points. I’ll go farther and say that we need to be working towards rehabilitating people, rather than just warehousing them. The way we handle felons now encourages recidivism.
Counterpoint, no rights are absolute. There are conditions and restrictions on every “fundamental constitutional right.” Freedom of speech does not include slander or inciting violence. Freedom of religion does not protect abuse or acts of violence. Freedom to bear arms does not include weapons of war or negligent behavior.
Addiction is a medical condition, and should not be treated by criminal courts. On the other hand, addiction does undermine an individual’s rational thinking. Should addicts be permitted to carry firearms? I don’t think that is an unreasonable restriction.
The problem with my argument is that I don’t think our restrictions on gun ownership go nearly far enough. Addiction is a problem, but it’s not the most pressing problem we have related to gun violence.
Further to that point, rights come with responsibilities. If you are going to forfeit those responsibilities to society then you are going to also forfeit some of the associated rights granted by society.
Counter-counterpoint: restricting rights after completion of a judicial sentence prevents convicts from reintegrating into society, which increases the odds of recidivism. If you want people to choose to act responsibly, they need to have the opportunity to do so.
Shout it from the mountains:
Republicans are coming after your guns!
I think that Hunter was only prosecuted for this crime because of who his father is. A real witch hunt. But at the same time, I’m not losing any sleep over it. He broke the law, and he’s someone with a lot of resources at his disposal and should have known better.
As for the law itself, I think the law should exist, but the potential punishment of 25 years is absurd.
I do think that keeping guns out of easy, legal, access of active drug abusers is appropriate. But as you say, without a conviction, the scope of those restrictions should be narrow and appeal-able.
And the punishment for being untruthful on a checkbox of an application should be a slap on the wrist. Confiscation of the firearm(s), and maybe community service. It should be the governments job to do proper screening, not the applicants job to screen themselves out.
But like I said before, I’m not going to lose any sleep over this, even if I do think it’s an unfair punishment for an arbitrarily enforced law, on someone targeted by a cult simply because of his family.
Considering that the form 4473 that you have to sign to purchase a firearm makes no mention of alcohol, I think this is hypocritical, at best. What’s the difference between alcoholics owning a firearm, and heroin addicts owning a firearm? All I know is that I would be way less worried about the junkie gun owner than a raging alcoholic gun owner.
Its a dumb law, that was probably spawned from racism. Nobody should have their gun rights removed if they did not do or threaten anything violent.
I absolutely disagree with keeping guns away from drug users (edit: for using drugs alone). Almost every American has a drug addiction, to caffeine at a minimum. Drugs can be safely handled as well as firearms. I believe that courses should be required that include training on proper safety and storage of firearms before purchase though, which should include warning about handling a firearm while intoxicated.
I was drinking with friends one time a while ago and one of my close friends, who’s in the navy, had his handgun with him. He didn’t see an issue with getting drunk with his gun on him. Luckily we all convinced him to put it aside somewhere safe until he’s sober, which he argued about but conceded. Why is it legal to use alcohol and have a firearm (and be in the military even) but not something like pot?
You should be considered for losing access to a firearm upon abusing that right by endangering someone or mishandling one. You shouldn’t lose it because the government decided to target a certain segment of society to disarm.
Google “the Mulford Act”. Republicans loved chasing poc around for owning or displaying guns, all up and down California, back in the 60s and 70s when the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak.
Its definitely fucked up. But its all part of the grand kabuki theater of criminal justice in our country. Build up a hysterical fear of Other People so you can give the police something to do. Then use the parade of prosecutions as proof that (a) crime is out of control and (b) we absolutely need to gut more public services so we can put a bigger and more heavily armed police force on the street.
You can find instances of all of the above tried by various state and local courts in the US.