A few weeks ago: "regime change is bad" was updated to "regime change is good". This was a great success, so now new updates are being released.
Now, there is a new update: "must not be infringed" now means "if you're carrying a concealed gun at a protest, you are a domestic terrorist and will be summarily executed after being disarmed and restrained."
Please prepare for your next update, due to be released in a couple of months. In "We oppose Middle Eastern quagmires", strike the word 'oppose' and insert 'support'.
Thank you for your attention to this matter, and remember to keep trusting the plan.
It's not just "he had a gun." It's also where and when he "had a gun." "Had a gun" is a funny kind of re-framing of "Armed himself before wading into a conflict."
Those are very different things.
I think having a gun in such a situation is and should be protected by the Constitution though. Don't get me wrong, I'm not losing sleep over it. He was almost undoubtedly a terrible person. But the administration needs to get its messaging right.
It is protected. Just because it is protected, doesn't make it not a bad idea, and the fact that it is protected doesn't mean you're not a piece of shit for exercising that right in bad faith. It's for self-defense. This doesn't cover aggression. If you're armed for aggression, it's not self-defense.
I don't think this concept has any legal merit though. And if it does, I really don't think I want the government to be the arbiter of that. Barring him not carrying ID (which incurs just a small fine), he was legally carrying.
Yes, yes. We're not talking legally. I already said his right in protected. I already said he was within his legal rights. This does not stop him from being in the wrong for arming himself with the intent or possibility of aggressing.
Legality is not a magic shield that makes you right. Exercising your Rights does not make you not a piece of shit, depending on how you're choosing to go about it. The entire concept of Rights, when it comes to the legality, rests on a somewhat fragile assumption of reasonable behavior. If you choose to do retarded things or go out looking to do harm, you are very well within your legal right to do so. You're also a piece of shit and might have to be put down.