To William Kostric, the peaceful protester in New Hampshire who openly carried a firearm to the town hall meeting, not for purposes of violence, but to provide a demonstration of our rights. "...the right of the people peaceably to assemble.... shall not be infringed," and "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed," both rights exercised by this man. Additionally, he consented to be interviewed on Hardball with Chris Matthews afterwards, and made calm, informed arguments about what he did, why he did it, and the current state of our country. The full interview can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XflE0RMiIiA
Thank you Mr. Kostric. You have done the people of this country a service. Continue the good fight in peace.
I disagree. I don’t think you have a right to carry a gun anywhere and in every situation. As the President was in attendance, I think it was a particularly poor choice. At best, all he accomplished was to shift a part of the debate from health care, to gun control. At worst, his actions could have been viewed as a threat against the President, and lead to his arrest.
ReplyDeleteIf we live in a country where being armed near the president is cause for arrest, we're in a very bad way indeed. Why do you think that the right to bear arms is conditional? I think there are times when bearing arms is unnecessary, but I see no reason to ever make it illegal. An armed society is a polite society. I think it reasonable to keep a reasonable amount of security around a high risk target, but I don't think it's reasonable to ban firearms within a certain radius of the president. The police did talk with him about his firearm, and decided he was legitimate. I don't think you should ever be required to surrender any of your constitutional rights just because of one government official. I would not consent to be disarmed at a peaceable protest any more than I would consent to be silenced. If any person wielding a firearm is assumed to have malicious intent, then our nation and society are in trouble.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Kostric is foolish. He brought a firearm to a hotly contested town hall meeting with the president as the featured speaker. There has been assault and battery at these meetings. People are spreading misinformation and lies about the healthcare debate (e.g. death panels.)
ReplyDeleteHis sign states "Occasionally the tree of liberty must be watered" leaving out "by the blood of Patriots and Tyrants." This is a call of action where he is the patriot and the president is the tyrant. Our country has a long history of political assassinations.
All human interactions are based on social contracts. This covers expectations and obligations of behaviors. Much of our contracts are based on the constitution. But for the constitution to be relevant , it needs to breathe and be relevant to today. The problems of 1790's America isn't those of the 20 zero's. To be sure, many issues are still relevant, but we are not a colony of England. Africans are no longer 3/5 th's a person and enslaved in the South. The president doesn't have to be born in the colonies at the time the constitution was adopted. If you believe the second amendment can't be abridged, then I have a musket to sell you. If you do think we can place limitations on it (think bombs, Anthrax, nuclear weapons) , then you can agree there can be reasonable limitations on the second amendment. Then is it a stretch to think that the president of the United States has earned the right to be protected form possible assassination.