Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Speech and Debate Banned by Gun Control Advocates

August 21, 2013

I’ve joined the ranks of others who have been banned from posting on the “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America” Facebook page. My crime? I disagreed with their position and had the audacity to say so in a comment on August 19, 2013.

Not all my friends agree with my positions on the 2nd Amendment / gun rights / gun control. Some have debated with me or asked me to clarify or consider alternative perspectives. Not one has told me they think I express myself abrasively, abusively or otherwise offensively. In fact, I’ve been complimented by friends that both agree and disagree with my positions for keeping the conversation civil and for backing up my thoughts and opinions with sources – articles and data. They appreciate the factual basis of my arguments. That’s not to say everything I write is factual. I’ve introduced a fair amount of opinion, sarcasm, etc., but not the insulting language very typical from both sides of the gun control debate.

But that approach isn’t good enough for gun control advocates like Moms Demand Action… and others. They don’t want to debate. They don’t want to hear the opposition. And they most certainly don’t want their audiences to read or hear it. They think it’s okay to attend political meetings and shout down candidates with opposing views but then won’t even let opponents comment on their Facebook pages.

This is the second time I’ve been banned from a Facebook page. The other? The other is on the page of an Illinois state politician. He’s a Democrat. He’s an outspoken advocate of gun control. I found out after I’d been banned from commenting on his page that before holding office he was actually employed in a gun control advocacy position. Oh, and I went to high school with him. We weren’t close friends or anything but I connected with him on Facebook and another social media site because of our past high school and football team associations. So even people with a shared past are not invited to participate in open debate when they disagree with the gun control agenda.

How can we ever trust the opposition when they don’t even want to have a fair, open and honest debate? What they’d rather infringe on 1st Amendment rights in order to infringe on 2nd Amendment rights? We can’t.

Below is a link to the Moms Demand Action… post that I commented on. My comment has been removed but I’ve included it here in its entirety following the link. In terms of chronology, my post would have been #95, I believe.


“How misleading can you be? "MINORS"? If you want to disagree or debate, at least be honest about it. People of age 18+ in our country are not legal minors. Yes, I know "minors" appears in the article headlines of the left-leaning Salon and Huffington Post, but it doesn't appear in other media headlines or even in the bodies of the Salon and HP articles.

From the comments above, several of you seem in favor of the drinking prohibition before age 21 but much of the world doesn't operate that way. You obviously want the handgun age limit maintained at 21 (or worse). How about voting rights? Shall we push back voting rights to age 21 too? If you want to make the argument that "minority" status should be pushed back to 21 across the board then have that argument. But know that if you push back the voting age of the so-called "minors" that you'll lose a large portion of the uninformed voters who support liberal or progressive politicians.

Current law already allows 18-20 year olds to own guns, at least in some states - rifles and shotguns - as well as to "possess" handguns. If these impulsive, emotional and not fully developed young men so many of you are worried about wanted to go on a killing rampage of a single person or a group, they can already do it with those tools, pressure cookers, or others.

There was a comment above by @Susie B Grande saying "19 year olds should not be able to access guns." "Access"? Really? There goes a huge portion of our military - the very people who provided you with the freedom to express your opinion. No one should be allowed to learn to hunt before 21? No one should be allowed to enjoy target shooting? Sorry, Boy Scouts of America. Too bad for those families whose teenage children have used guns to defend their families in their homes. I've read 2-3 of those stories just this year, including one today. Those are just the ones I've come across. I don't search them out. And no opportunity for parents to teach responsible gun ownership and use in a consistent and repetitive manner to children as they grow up?  If you mean "own guns" then say that. "Access" has an entirely different meaning and takes the argument to a different level. Are you aware of the teenagers in our age who literally hunt without parental supervision to put essential food on their tables? Susie, as easily as you tell someone that they're 'part of the problem' because they agree with the NRA's position on this issue, you are part of the problem of the erosion of our Constitutional and civil liberties.

How old do you think the soldiers and militiamen of our American Revolution and Civil War were? And those who fought in Vietnam? Iraq & Afghanistan?”

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August 22, 2013

I found this article about the intolerance of Moms Demand Action interesting, particularly in light of my post yesterday.

http://www.ammoland.com/2013/08/who-knew-moms-were-so-intolerant-of-your-constitutional-rights/#axzz2ciWXlaUd

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Related blogs:
http://us2ndamendment.blogspot.com/2013/08/speech-and-debate-banned-by-gun-control.html
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