Ballots vs. Bullets: Conservative Hypocrisy and the Bill of Rights

In 1791, the Bill of Rights, approved by Congress and ratified by the states, went into effect. Included among the first ten amendments to the US Constitution was the Second Amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
It seems today that the right to bear arms is the only freedom those on the right are willing to defend against regulation and restriction. There are so many freedoms guaranteed us, either explicitly or implied, in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

But, lately, it seems that nearly every one of them has come under conservative assault, that is, all but one, the right to keep and bear arms. This despite the 2^nd Amendment's specific use of the term "well regulated." Are Republicans cherry-picking those Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms with which they agree and tossing out the rest because they don't fit with their conservative philosophy? In a cynical and hypocritical fashion, they are doing just that. So much for their reverence for our Founding Fathers.

Consider Tea Party and far right attitudes and beliefs on privacy, speech, thought, choice, marriage, religion, individual liberty and, most importantly, voting. While it can be said that several of these freedoms are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution, it is inarguable that Americans are guaranteed a certain degree of privacy and individual liberty to do as they please in their own private lives. The courts have upheld this view repeatedly in our nation's history.

But many on the right disagree. It’s laughable to suggest that modern day conservatives support the notion of individual liberty. Conservatives believe the state should regulate all sorts of private behavior, except of course when it comes to gun ownership. They deny marriage rights to same sex couples. They deny religious freedom to anyone who does not subscribe to their fundamentalist beliefs. They deny women the right to make decisions concerning their own health and well-being. They deny free speech and free thought by attempting to regulate what Americans can read in a public library or on the Internet, or hear on the radio, or watch on TV.

They also disagree, evidently from their recent actions, to restrict voting in many states, that the right to vote should be universally expanded.

Most assuredly, I am not the only one who finds it ironic that as the right wing categorically rejects any restrictions to the most sacrosanct of freedoms, the right to own a gun, Republicans simultaneously are feverishly working to restrict and in some cases remove entirely the one right so very fundamental to our democracy – the right to vote.

For those of you about to accuse me of politicizing a tragedy, save your breath. It’s already politicized, by its very nature. And it always will be.

Americans went to war with our British rulers in 1775 under the banner of a very simple cause: no taxation without representation. The American revolution was about the freedom to set our own destiny…to form our own governing institutions, to choose our own representatives in free elections, to establish our own systems of justice and finance, and to chart our own way of life in a new world. Revolutionary soldiers took up arms to cast off tyranny so that future generations could do so by more peaceful means.

They took up arms to win freedom so that we could mark ballots and preserve freedom.

And here we are, almost 240 years later: the right to cast your vote has never been under a more sustained assault from the right and the conversation about what types of weapons should be necessary for individual citizens to secure their rights is shut down before it can even take place.

It's time Americans had an adult conversation about guns. If not now, then when? Following the second mass shooting in Colorado in 13 years that left 12 people dead inside a movie theater, many posts were made to Twitter stating that it was too soon to start a conversation about additional gun control measures.

Too soon? I would argue that conversation is long overdue.

If one political party can sustain a successful and concentrated attack on the rights of its citizens to participate in the most fundamental exercise of democracy – the casting of ballots - then surely the nation can engage in an adult discussion of how we can restrict that other fundamental right – how we can permit citizens to safely and reasonably keep and bear arms while limiting the types of deadly weapons that have no presence in the home or on our streets.

I was struck by a comment by Joe Scarborough on this very topic on his MSNBC show “Morning Joe” on Monday, July 23, in the wake of the theater shootings. Americans have had the discussion about gun control, Scarborough said, and the proponents lost.

I suppose Scarborough may be one of those strict constructionists who believe words written 240 years ago should never be interpreted and applied to 21^st century situations and standards. Were that the case, women and minorities may never have gained the right to vote. That would make Rush Limbaugh proud but it would be morally wrong and undercut the values on which our nation was founded: that all men are created equal.

Were that the case, slavery would still be legal. But that would be morally wrong and undercut the values on which our nation was founded: that all men are created equal.

My point here is simple. Opinions and beliefs change. Nations progress. Very few things in life are static, much to the chagrin of those on the right who would like to think we still live in the 1950s, Ike is still President, and women belong in the kitchen. Beliefs change. Nations progress.

So why haven’t America’s gun regulations followed suit? We’ve adopted universal suffrage, though that right is under renewed assault. We’ve adopted Civil Rights legislation and nearly guaranteed all citizens equal rights. Let’s be honest with ourselves…this was not the case when the nation was first established. Beliefs change. Nations progress.

So why can’t we talk about reasonable changes to our gun laws to reflect modern realities? Surely the Founding Fathers didn't envision deranged citizens using assault weapons to shoot up schools and theaters and workplaces when they wrote the Bill of Rights. So our gun laws should be updated.

Surely our Founding Fathers, before photographic technology even existed, didn't believe photo ID should be required to cast a ballot. But strict constructionist Republicans have passed voter ID laws in many states. Quite a paradox, isn't it?

In a nation where, according to the Harvard School of Public Health, more guns means more homicides, you shouldn’t be allowed to buy a military-style semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round magazine designed as a weapon of war.

In a nation where deaths by assault, according to the OECD, far outweigh those of most other developed nations, you shouldn’t be allowed to buy 6000 rounds of ammunition over the internet, no questions asked.

It's time we took seriously the "well regulated" portion of the 2nd Amendment. Federal restrictions should include commonsense limits on the types of guns and ammunition available to the civilian population, requirements for training in how to use firearms, insurance on guns to cover misuse and accidents, and re-permitting every few years, in addition to already-required waiting periods and background checks in some states.

Note that these restrictions do not remove a citizens right to keep and bear arms, they simply impose common sense restrictions. That's an important distinction, because the gun lobby likes to suggest that any restriction on guns is an infringement on the 2nd Amendment and that is bull, plain and simple.

Many conservatives reject these types of restrictions, however, arguing that they impose an unfair cost and inconvenience on the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to keep and bear arms...the same arguments, I would note, these same conservatives reject when used to argue against the imposition of restrictions on voting such as Voter ID requirements. Hypocrites? You decide. 

In a nation where the right to vote is under assault but the right to keep and bear arms is a subject forbidden from debate, it’s time Americans had an adult conversation about gun control, free from NRA propaganda. It’s not too soon. It’s way past due.