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Surrendering Ground on our Second Amendment Rights is Naïve
Liberals and other know-it-alls assume that our arguments for defending our Second Amendment rights, no matter how rational, are totally worthless. Trying to change their minds is a fool’s errand. Unfortunately, for that to happen they will have to experience a personal tragedy and/or grow up.
Lawyers are trained to challenge every argument presented by the opposing counsel in their quest to sway jurors. Prosecutors, in particular, know that they must destroy the credibility every defense argument or there is a high probability that the jury will have reasonable doubt, and reasonable doubt is grounds for acquittal.
That’s exactly what Brett Joshpe did in his article in today’s American Thinker. With one exception, he listed some of the most compelling arguments for protecting our Second Amendment rights, and then he tried to tear them apart.
Joshpe’s “Gun Rights are Inalienable and Natural” argument is the exception. It’s different from the others that he mentions, and I think it is off the mark since I have never heard anyone suggest that gun rights are God-given. I can only surmise that since Joshpe listed that argument, and especially since he listed it first, that he believes gun rights advocates by-and-large are right-wing, Bible believing, fanatics. It’s his least compelling argument, a straw man as it were, and his case would have been stronger if he had left it out.
Be that as it may, Joshpe concludes that
In the wake of the Sandy Hook horror, it has never been more obvious to me — and probably to many Americans — why law-abiding citizens might want a gun in their home to protect their family. That right is sacrosanct and, for all intents and purposes, non-negotiable, given the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, it is also time for sensible restrictions and regulations.
Access to high capacity magazines and automatic and semi-automatic weapons should be severely curtailed, if not eliminated. Recreation is their primary purpose, and sport can no longer outweigh even the slightly higher likelihood of future tragedies like Sandy Hook. In addition, as a nation, we need to de-glorify enhanced firepower. To the extent that guns serve a defensive purpose and can save lives, we should treat them as the tools of last resort that they are, not toys or props littering our movies and video games. Second, purchasing weapons at gun shows from non-licensed sellers and without a background check should be banned. Gun shows offer the easiest way for those with bad intentions or who are irresponsible to acquire weapons. Certainly there is nothing in these common-sense suggestions that is inconsistent with our Second Amendment rights.
I hope that Joshpe doesn’t realize how sweeping his conclusions are, because if he does, he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. By that I mean he is opposed to our Second Amendment rights, and he pays them lip service begrudgingly before he tries to eviscerate them.
For instance, curtailing or eliminating access to “high capacity magazines and automatic and semi-automatic weapons” would virtually wipe out hunting weapons. Depending on how “high capacity magazine” is defined, that argument could lead to the abolition of every type of weapon except revolvers and single or double barrel shotguns and rifles and even revolvers are questionable since a magazine is nothing more than the compartment that holds the ammunition.
I suspect and hope that Joshpe and people who think the way he does do not understand what we are up against. I’ll use a real world example to make my point.
In 2006 in Anderson, South Carolina, Cyndi Marchbanks shot and killed a pregnant woman who invaded her home to beat her to a pulp or worse. There were several eyewitnesses who told police that they saw the perpetrator break into Cyndi’s home through a locked storm door. According to South Carolina law, Cyndi had every right to defend herself, and she did not have to retreat or give ground to her attacker inside her home. South Carolina law is very clear about that fact.
Even so, Cyndi was charged with two counts of murder (the mother and the unborn child) and two counts of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a violent crime. For 14 months as she awaited trial, Cyndi lived with the fear that she would have to spend the rest of her life in prison with no chance for parole because she shot an intruder.
I wrote a book about the incident titled Falsely Accused. From start to finish, the investigation of the shooting took less than two hours. The detective in charge of the investigation, Kevin Matheson, told me that he didn’t agree with South Carolina’s law that says a person does not have to give ground inside her home. I think that played an important part in his and the prosecutor’s decision to charge Cyndi with murder.
Another aspect of the shooting played an important part as well. The unborn child was delivered postmortem and kept alive on machines for 40 days before she died. As you would expect, the media had a field day with the shooting. Day after day, they portrayed Cyndi as an arch villain. Since the solicitor in Anderson, Chrissy Adams, was seeking re-election, I think that she wanted to prosecute the case to improve her chances of winning another term in office.
Cutting to the chase, South Carolina is not like New York, Connecticut, or Massachusetts where perceptions about gun rights are concerned. Yet even here, the use of a gun in self-defense is under attack, so much so that law enforcement officials in South Carolina were able to put Cyndi Marchbanks and her family through hell for 14 months with impunity until a jury closed the door on their nefarious pursuit.
If it can happen in Anderson, South Carolina, it can happen anywhere. Yes, Mr. Joshpe, we are on a slippery slope, and it’s naïve at best not to acknowledge that fact. Failing to protect our Second Amendment rights at this time is dangerous and potentially life threatening.
This SnyderTalk editorial first appeared in American Thinker.
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Ezekiel 39: 17-20
“As for you, son of man, thus says Adonai Yahweh, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,”’” declares Adonai Yahweh.
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His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important. It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.
- God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
- “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
- “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
- Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)
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The Palestinian Charter Still Calls for Israel’s Destruction
To download the entire audio presentation, click here.
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Hosea 4: 6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
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14 Attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in West Bank on Thursday
5 Border Police hurt in attempt to evacuate Oz Zion outpost
MB official: Egyptian Jews should return to Egypt
New clip of Hebron shooting tells a different story
Syria opposition rebuffs Russian call for talks
Bennett: Liberman, Netanyahu scandals politicized
Deri apologizes for ‘Russians and whites’ comment
Next stop for the Arab Spring?
‘Iran slowed uranium enrichment, may want deal’
Wiesenthal ranks top 10 anti-Semites, Israel-haters
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IDF Postpones Shomron Eviction After Clashes Break Out
Syrian Regime Firing Iranian-Made Missiles at Rebels
Lieberman on Abbas’ Threat: Please Quit, We Can’t Wait
Poll: ‘Likud Beytenu’ Continues to Drop
Binyamin Council Head Plays Down New Intifada
Egypt’s Opposition to be Investigated
Suha Arafat: 2000 War of Terror was Premeditated
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‘We will respond to any threat’
‘I am very concerned for the well-being of Western culture’
Lieberman’s political future could depend on an estranged ally
Three top portfolios to be held by Likud-Beytenu after election
British minister: Ariel University an ‘obstacle to peace’
Far-right MKs to campaign in Israeli Arab village
Report: Iran will open suspect military base if threats dropped
Egypt’s prosecutor orders probe against opposition
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IDF Personnel Pelted With Rocks, Molotov Cocktails in West Bank as Unrest Persists
Syrian Moderates Fear Being Edged Out of Uprising
Alawite Cleric: Assad Duped Us into Sectarian War
Israel Must Make Sure West Bank Not “Contaminated” with Gaza Rocket Capabilities
UAE Arrests Cell Planning Attacks
Can you keep health coverage when changing jobs?
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Samuel Heilman: In the Wake of the Gaza War, How Israelis and Hamas Comfort Their Children—In a radio report on the BBC, a Gaza teacher describes the “therapy” provided for young Palestinian children traumatized by the eight days of war. To allow them to express their feelings, the little children were taken to a public square and lined up. Some were dressed in the green uniform of Hamas fighters and were “armed” with toy machine guns that they were encouraged to shoot in the air at Israelis. Then an Israeli flag was placed on the ground in front of them and set ablaze while all the youngsters stamped on it and screamed epithets of hatred toward Israel and Israelis, with the encouragement of their teachers.
Amin Farouk: Hamastine: A Present from the UN—Near the Islamic University in Gaza – where PhD theses are written on topics such as “The role of the Muslim mother in preparing her sons to be martyrs of the resistance” – a large outdoor rally was recently held to glorify, celebrate and promote anti-Semitism and genocide.
Alexander Zvielli: “Lawrence of Arabia” Believed in Zionism—T.E. Lawrence, the legendary “Lawrence of Arabia,” believed in Zionism as a force to restore Palestine to its ancient glory, brought about by active British-Jewish-Arab cooperation. During World War I he persuaded the Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman Turks. He organized an Arab fighting unit commanded by Emir Feisal, son of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, which captured Aqaba in 1916 and entered Damascus in 1918.
Max Boot: What Wingate Wrought—In 1936, T.E. Lawrence’s distant cousin, British Army Captain Orde Wingate, was dispatched to Palestine as an intelligence officer in the British force striving to put down an Arab rebellion. Notwithstanding his Arabist background, he became enamored of Zionism. Wingate admired the Jews for making the desert “blossom like the rose,” and he felt that they would be more valuable allies for Britain than the Arabs.
Yaakov Lappin: Israel Redefines Victory in the New Middle East—In the new Middle East, Hamas will continue firing rockets into Israel right up until the last day of a conflict, and claim victory despite absorbing the majority of damages and casualties.
Dovid Efune: How Israel Should Avoid International Isolation—As the political climate heats up in Israel, the oft chimed argument of choice for the withered and depleted ‘concessions camp,’ charges that various actions taken by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the current sitting government are leading to ‘international isolation’ of the Jewish state…
Yoram Ettinger: An Israeli state of mind— Most Israelis — Right, Center and Left — have concluded that security-driven peace supersedes peace-driven security.
Dan Margalit: Legal problem, political consequences— Lieberman’s indictment has somewhat dimmed the seemingly bright future of the joint Likud-Beytenu list.
Gonen Ginat: Was Jesus a Palestinian?— Arabs compete among themselves to commit the most atrocious act of cruelty.
Dore Gold: Haaretz resurrects the Khazar Jews theory— Every few years the theory is posed that European Jews are descendants of the Khazars.
Dan Margalit: Where has the two-state solution gone?— Anyone paying attention can see that the Palestinians continue to negate the two-state solution.
Dr. Aviad Hacohen: The road to Lieberman’s conviction— The State Prosecutor’s Office still has its work cut out if it wants to convict Lieberman.
Dr. Haim Shine: Ariel: A stronghold under attack— The leftist professors and politicians who have been fighting against Ariel University know that a place that houses a thriving university will never be handed over in a peace agreement.
Burak Bekdil: Why Some “Turks” Are Less Equal— Press reports revealed that the prosecutor’s office in Istanbul that had tried the Israeli soldiers involved in the Mavi Marmara incident had asked the intelligence services for a listing of Turkish Jews who traveled to Israel two weeks before and after the incident.
Fred Grandy: The Sharia Threat to America—Unlike other forms of religious law, such as canon law and Jewish law, sharia is the only form of religious law extant that is also meant to apply to people of other faiths, i.e. non-Muslims.
Louis Rene Beres: Israel And ‘Palestine’: A Memo To Barack Obama— Mr. President, some foreign policies need to be carefully thought through a second time. Your “two-state” approach to peace between Israel and “Palestine” wrongly accepts the core argument of an Israeli “occupation.” Even the most cursory look at pertinent world history would reveal compelling legal reasons to now reject this unfounded argument.
William L. Gensert: Three in the Head—I carried a gun in New York City for more than a decade — back when there were thousands of murders a year and the Bronx led the nation in killings. On at least 4 occasions, that gun saved my life, and in a couple of instances, the lives of people who were with me.
Brett Joshpe: Sensible Arms Policy—As a conservative, I have been disappointed that so many within my ranks continue to advocate for a continuation of the status quo, rather than sensible alternatives.
Daniel J. Mitchell: When Gun Control Satire Becomes Reality— Back in my less sophisticated days (shocking as it may seem, I wasn’t always the mature, statesmanlike figure I am today), I sometimes resorted to silly arguments when debating gun control, such as, “does this mean you want to ban knives since they also can be used to kill people?”
Brent Bozell: The Obama Culture Arrives— The year 2012 was a depressing time for people who are already pessimistic about the state of our common culture. Conversely, the re-election of Barack Obama, in large measure made possible by the heavy financial support of Hollywood, projects the optimism of the cultural Left. They anticipate increased blue-state voting patterns in favor of gay “marriage,” legalized pot, gun regulations, and what next? Legalized prostitution? Euthanasia subsidized by Obamacare?
Rachel Alexander: U.S. Covering Up and Revising Islamic Ties to Terrorism— The Obama administration is following the direction of the United Nations and suppressing any mention of radical Islam’s association with terrorism. Even the word “terrorism” is being censored because it has become associated with Islam. Remember President George W. Bush’s “War on Terror?” The phrase has disappeared, even though terrorist attacks are increasing. Obama has stopped using the phrase.
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Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now. There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
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Other Books by Neil Snyder
- Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days. Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall. Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace. With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
- Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided. They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make. As they say, forewarned is forearmed. Click here to order the eBook. Click here to order the paperback.
