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Quote by: Sonart  Then it's a good thing we don't live in the United States of Keith Hamburger, but in a Constitutional Democratic Republic. |
This is a useless, personal, snide comment that adds nothing to the discussion.
One of the documents stating the founding principles of this country is the
Declaration of Independence. Granted, it doesn't have the power of law, but it does lay out the guiding principles.
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That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
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In the philosophy used by the writer and signatories to this document, this means that governments power derives from the rights of the citizens, delegated to the government by those citizens. The government only has the power to defend the rights of the citizens that the citizens themselves have. A group of people don't have a greater level of rights or powers than any individual within that group has. I have the right to property, and from that right derives the power to use the tools and take the actions necessary to protect my property. I can delegate that power to another person or organization, including but not limited to the government, but I cannot delegate any power which I do not posess.
If you are advocating that you can ask the government to do something that you aren't empowered to do, or not willing to do, you are going in clear and direct opposition to the principles on which this country was founded.
Now, after that little bit of education, perhaps you could address the actual topic and post.
Perhaps you can discuss where you have the power to take firearms from a fellow, peaceful citizen. And, if you don't have that power, how you can delegate that power to the government. (And, note, pragmatism has no bearing here. We're talking rights.)
Keith