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It always strikes me as odd that so many Americans look at the constitution as if it was a holy text from the founding fathers that must be followed and left un

by ric2b 6y ago

It always strikes me as odd that so many Americans look at the constitution as if it was a holy text from the founding fathers that must be followed and left unchanged, even though they are usually discussing amendments...

readarticle 6y ago
Nobody’s discussing an amendment here, at no point did they suggest it should remain unchanged, and concerns over interpretation apply to any future amendments anyways. Picking up a gun you’ve found from the larger cultural war and shooting random commenters with it is fun, but quite inappropriate for HN from what I’ve seen of it.
- ric2b 6y ago
  > Nobody’s discussing an amendment here Yes they are, the comment above me has this: > I don't know how more unambiguous the framers could get than "shall not be infringed". That's the second amendment, is it not?
ziml77 6y ago
Based on the kinds of things I see people posting on social media, I think the attitude regarding amendment #2 stems from fear. Guns make them feel safe. Including feeling safe from the government who they fear will come to try to do things like silence them and destroy their ways of thinking or even cause physical harm. So it causes real conflict for them when the government wants to put limits on guns. On top of that, the 2nd amendment itself is about defending against the government. It says that armed citizens are necessary to be able to form a well-regulated militia. The founding fathers had just broken free of an oppressive government, so they wanted to be sure it was possible for states to break free again if necessary.
pravus 6y ago
The Bill of Rights is meant to be a declaration of immutable rights of human beings. It always strikes me as odd that people view these as permissions given from some higher authority that can be changed. The reason they are so viciously argued for is because it is the only thing we can point to that enshrines the idea that we have individual rights that cannot be legislated away.

by ric2b 6y ago

readarticle 6y ago

Nobody’s discussing an amendment here, at no point did they suggest it should remain unchanged, and concerns over interpretation apply to any future amendments anyways. Picking up a gun you’ve found from the larger cultural war and shooting random commenters with it is fun, but quite inappropriate for HN from what I’ve seen of it.

ric2b 6y ago
> Nobody’s discussing an amendment here Yes they are, the comment above me has this: > I don't know how more unambiguous the framers could get than "shall not be infringed". That's the second amendment, is it not?

ziml77 6y ago

Based on the kinds of things I see people posting on social media, I think the attitude regarding amendment #2 stems from fear. Guns make them feel safe. Including feeling safe from the government who they fear will come to try to do things like silence them and destroy their ways of thinking or even cause physical harm. So it causes real conflict for them when the government wants to put limits on guns. On top of that, the 2nd amendment itself is about defending against the government. It says that armed citizens are necessary to be able to form a well-regulated militia. The founding fathers had just broken free of an oppressive government, so they wanted to be sure it was possible for states to break free again if necessary.

pravus 6y ago

The Bill of Rights is meant to be a declaration of immutable rights of human beings. It always strikes me as odd that people view these as permissions given from some higher authority that can be changed. The reason they are so viciously argued for is because it is the only thing we can point to that enshrines the idea that we have individual rights that cannot be legislated away.