First Amendment at core of United States freedoms
Fact: a thing known to be true -- the earth is round, the sun sets in the west, etc.
Opinion: a belief or conviction based on what seems probable or true but not a demonstrable fact.
Joe Tucker's recent critique of retired justice Jack Holt's article on the Second Amendment in my opinion points out one of the reasons the right and the left are locked in place. When you can constantly quote half of the Second Amendment and make it a fact in your mind that it is mostly responsible for our democracy to the exclusion of rest of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, it doesn't leave much room for discussion or any other point of view. He did include the First Amendment, then later disqualified it, I assume meaning free speech will be, his words, "our ultimate undoing."
As regards my stance on the Second Amendment, I received my first firearm on my 12th birthday and still own firearms.
In my opinion, Mr. Holt's account of the legal history of the Second Amendment, along with his opinions of what has influenced the discussion and legislation to date, was very enlightening.
The very fact that Mr. Tucker is able to espouse his views and I am able to do the same, in my opinion, is really the foundation of our freedoms, not gun ownership, and what really has made us a bastion of freedom in this world. The old saw "the pen is mightier than the sword" is still true, in my opinion. Mr. Tucker's view of the First Amendment and his description of the invaders from South America running from violence in their country seems based on a fear that without his unlimited, unregulated private ownership of guns, we're doomed, and a fear that somehow too much free speech could lead to our downfall. In my opinion, that is the very antitheses of our democracy.
A "well regulated Militia?" Translation: The finest military and police forces on the face of this earth, made up of freedom-loving individuals just like Mr. Tucker, are here to provide the armed protection we require. Not the NRA or Mr. Tucker and his gun-toting cohorts. In my opinion, of course.
Instead of being preoccupied with conspiracies and needing our guns to protect us from our government, let's spend our energies making this democracy continue to work.
Jim Nicely
Bella Vista
Commentary on 11/26/2018