(02-18-2018 04:32 PM)mturn017 Wrote: (02-15-2018 01:41 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote: I dont think its against the 2nd amendment to require people to:
a) be a citizen to possess a gun
b) require anyone possessing a gun to be properly licensed AND insured for bodily damage done by those guns
c) to be licensed, screen for mental health issues or violent tendencies as well as complete real gun training and safety classes(not just 2 hours on a single Saturday which is what I did to get my carry permit years ago)
d) restrict ownership of assault weapons like AR-15s to current law enforcement officers.
I own several guns. I am for the rights of people to own guns. But I dont think it is unreasonable for gun ownership to have responsibilities attached to it.
I agree with this.
But limiting people's voting rights? I can't support that at all, you should just need to be a citizen.
An irresponsible voter, individually, is far less of a danger than an irresponsible gun owner. But an irresponsible electorate, in the aggregate, is in my view a greater danger to our republic. Just as the right to gun ownership should bring heavy responsibilities, so should the right of citizens to vote.
I am in favor of society having authority to remove guns from people who cannot demonstrate a clear ability to handle them. (Full disclosure: I am not myself a gun owner, and am uncomfortable in their proximity.)
Why should voting be different? Laws or procedures that discriminate against the right of any citizen to vote need to be erased. But so should laws or procedures that encourage irresponsible voting. The sacred nature of a vote cast by an informed citizen is diluted when we encourage non-citizen or uninformed voting. This is happening more and more -- with unrestricted mail-in or early-voting ballots, with automatic restoration of felon voting rights, by attempts to allow voting without valid i.d.
miko33 makes an excellent point: Constitutional rights are sacred, but they not absolute. They are conditional. The First Amendment right of free expression does not allow someone to falsely yell "fire" in a crowded theater. Freedom of religion cannot be used as a cover for polygamy or child abuse. The right to free association does not permit business to bar access based upon race, gender, etc.
There likewise can and should be some level of restrictions to the Constitutional rights of gun ownership and voting.