I am an unabashed liberal. I also believe the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees American citizens the right to own a firearm. But that right is not unlimited (a fact that has been verified by the Supreme Court many times, including the current conservative court). We already know that large caliber machine guns, RPGs, tanks, and similar weapons are not covered under the Second Amendment, and I personally believe assault weapons and ammo clips holding more than 10 bullets should be added to that list of banned items.It is also generally accepted in this country that felons, domestic abusers, and dangerously mentally ill people should not be allowed to buy or possess firearms. Even most NRA members agree with this (in spite of their insane leadership). And personally, I would add the man in the picture above. His name is James Yeager, and he is the owner of a company that supposedly teaches people how to use weapons (although the state of Tennessee, where he lives, says his company is NOT certified to do firearms training and Mr. Yeager is NOT certified by the state to instruct anyone).
A couple of days ago, this man made a video in which he threatened to start a revolution if President Obama and Congress passed any new gun restrictions. He said he would be happy to fire the first shot and was ready to start "killing people". I consider that to be a terroristic threat, and think he should have been arrested. At least the state of Tennessee did take some action. They suspended his right to carry a concealed handgun, saying:
The number one priority for our department is to ensure the public’s safety. Mr. Yeager’s comments were irresponsible, dangerous, and deserved our immediate attention. Due to our concern, as well as that of law enforcement, his handgun permit was suspended immediately. We have notified Mr. Yeager about the suspension today via e-mail. He will receive an official notification of his suspension through the mail.
I wish they could have done more. I consider this guy to be a perfect example of the kind of person who should not be allowed to even own a gun of any kind. He has already said he is willing to kill people because he doesn't like proposed laws that would tighten restrictions on who can own a gun, and possibly outlaw some types of assault weapons. I can easily picture him someday walking into a theater or shopping center or school and starting to kill innocent people, and thinking his action was justified because the government did something he didn't like.
I don't think that's an unreasonable point of view. Having been born and raised in Texas (and still living there), I have been around responsible gun owners all of my life, and I have no problem with that at all. They have a right to own those weapons for both sport and self-defense. Those men and women do not threaten to kill their fellow citizens (or try to overthrow our government), and if they did, I would want their right to own a firearm revoked. If we don't like the way things are going in this country, we have recourse at the ballot box. But we should never have the right to impose our own views by threatening to kill people. We have prisons for people like that.
