General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Gun Nuts Pushing Recall Are The Ones Who Should Have Guns Taken Away [View all]Bazinga
(331 posts)It is the equivalent of "If you disagree with me then you're stupid, so I must be right."
Variants on this theme include;
"If you even want one of these killing machines then obviously you are a psycho and shouldn't be allowed to own guns!"
"I don't want to see innocent little children die, so if you disagree with me you must want them to be murdered in their classrooms!"
"These are common sense reforms, so anyone who would disagree with them must be insane... and therefore shouldn't own a gun."
If assault weapons bans, magazine capacity limits, waiting periods, and universal background checks really are effective at reducing violence (and not just gun violence but all violence) then there must be more to support them than the designation of "common sense."
I don't want common sense solutions. I want exceptional sense solutions. I want legislators to investigate problems, weigh evidence, propose solutions, debate them, anticipate unintended consequences, revise those solutions, and enact effective laws that achieve specific goals while minimizing side-effects and always holding the rights of the people in sacred deference.
Anything less than open, educated debate is beneath our party. And perhaps this recall is an indication that we have not sufficiently considered the consequences of hasty legislation, and we would do well to lift our solutions above the plane of "common" sense.