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Don't let gun lobby from the legal debate

Susan Coffey Waterford

Publication: The Day

Published 02/11/2013 12:00 AM
Updated 02/08/2013 02:36 PM

We hear from the gun lobby that it's all about the U.S. Constitution and the freedoms guaranteed there, however they are wrong when they believe that our rights are absolute and unlimited.

The First Amendment freedom of one person to falsely yell "fire" in a crowded assembly is tempered against another's freedom to not be trampled to death by those trying to exit. Thus our rights are limited. We have had gun restrictions since our country's inception. Our Supreme Court has accurately stated as such. When one lobby distorts a right to the point where we have frequent mass shootings and a bounty of illegal weapons in the hands of those who should not have them, then the freedoms of those of us who obey the laws are diminished.

The gun lobby focuses on the "law-abiding gun owners," which creates a false contrast between good against evil, law-abiding versus criminals. This narrow thinking forgets the fact that almost all newly manufactured guns are first sold legally to so-called law-abiding people. However, the fact that so many guns are now in the hands of criminals and the criminally insane shows us how we all have paid a steep price for an unfettered freedom to own guns can be.

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