Robert Reich, the Second Amendment, and mass murder
Robert Reich was the Secretary of Labor and is a professor at Berkley. In theory, that means he’s a pretty smart guy.
However, for a supposedly intelligent man, he says some really dumb things from time to time.
Like this tweet from Sunday.
Wow. Well…that’s a take.
It’s an idiotic take, but it’s certainly a take.
First, let’s look at the text of the Second Amendment:
A well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the people’s right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
Now, I’m looking at this and trying to see just what part of the Second Amendment actually permits murder of any kind, much less mass murder.
Sorry, but I can’t see it.
That’s because it’s simply not there. Murder is illegal. It’s one of the few laws that absolutely no one questions. We might disagree on when taking another life is justified, but we don’t disagree with the idea that killing people for no reason is wrong, and those who do so deserve to be punished.
Reich’s argument is akin to saying that the First Amendment permits child pornography.
The difference, though, is that some have actually tried to defend child porn by citing the First Amendment. Absolutely no one tries to say the Second Amendment permits murder.
Not only that, but the truth is that the Second Amendment does the opposite of what Reich is trying to argue here.
The mass shootings we’ve seen of late are awful things. No one really disagrees on that point. There’s no point of contention there.
However, we’ve also seen a few instances over the years where a mass shooting doesn’t end up with so many people killed because a good guy with a gun was there. White Settlement, TX, and Greenwood Park Mall both come to mind.
In these cases, a state’s respect for the Second Amendment resulted in people being in place and armed so as to prevent mass slaughter.
Meanwhile, California has a culture that actively discourages many to own and carry guns. They’ve notoriously made it difficult for law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm. While I can’t say that’s why they had two mass shootings so close together, I can say it didn’t help prevent them.
Further, the Second Amendment means the government cannot just disarm us. It means that we won’t passively be loaded onto cattle cars and shipped to various destinations to be massacred.
The Second Amendment prevents mass slaughter, yet again.
Reich should be aware of this. I’m quite sure he’s been made aware of it time and time again. So why make this case? Because he thinks you’re too stupid to see through it.
The truth is that Reich makes a lot of stupid points, despite supposedly being an intelligent guy. Not just on guns, either. In fact, we could create a site that just dunks on Reich’s stupid hot takes. In that regard, this is no different.
The problem is that there are people who think he made a great point there when he did no such thing.
No one has ever challenged murder laws under the guise of such laws interfering with their Second Amendment rights. Even if they try, they won’t get very far because we all know it’s an idiotic take.
Reich is just trying to rile up the left. That’s it, and it’s taking stupidity to make that happen, apparently.
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