I would argue that some rights we just, as you said, have, while others we earn, but again: semantics.

It’s actually intrastate commerce. The feds can’t regulate that.

I don’t regard denying someone a gun license as a “punishment.” Maybe this is an issue of semantics, but I think owning a gun should be a right you earn, and if you don’t earn it? Then you’re back where you started, which is fine. A punishment would be taking something away, a fine or criminal charge or something. If…

Thing is mandating at the federal level is unconstitutional as the federal government does not have that power, only the states do.

I like a lot of these.

There are a lot of factors in gun violence, and I’ll admit I don’t know exactly what would help the most. I like your idea of more robust background checks. Beyond that, should certain types of guns be illegal to the general public? IDK. The ones that probably cause the most damage are handguns, given there are so…

What’s the distinction between someone buying a gun through a “private sale” and buying one through a “firearm dealer”? Not a rhetorical question, I’m genuinely curious what differentiates between “dealer” and “not dealer.”

A lot to respond to here, so I’ll refer you to my response to What-would-kosh-do, who had a lot of the same points you did:

These are not two things, they are the same thing.

I think the reform I’d like to see most is the “gun show loophole” closed, followed by banning private sales from one person to another w/o some background check. Basically I think there should be some kind of background check with every gun sale, because these “loopholes” are big enough to drive an ICBM through.

I’m not certain they could sidestep much of that process.

I hope you’re right. What makes me nervous is that the Trump administration, the FBI, (i think) ICE and DHS in general are part of the executive branch, and they seem to have a lot of leeway. I think the main thing holding Trump back from realizing his “vision” (to the extent he has any) is his incompetence and the…

I was a little surprised to learn this, but yeah, apparently:

I give the kids leeway for being, well, kids. I’m sure I had some bizarre ideas at that age. And idk any of the details of this particular production, but I’m guessing the kids came up with it themselves and made it happen, and they needed little if any approval from anyone. Great! I’m more than ok with that. OTOH, Bre…

Holy Tap Dancing Christ... we bounced back “freer”... with the help of consumer electronics and social media? Have any of them heard of the Patriot Act or, idk, any number of companies selling “us” out to the highest bidder? I wish I could be this optimistic about multinational tech giants ushering all of us into…

Are we finally past the “thoughts and prayers” nonsense? (or at least mostly past it?) Because as disgusting and wrong as this “’both sides do it’ bullshit” is, I wonder if it’s at least marginally better than “thoughts and prayers” and “this is not an appropriate time to debate the issue.” Maybe bad faith arguments…

Tillis oversaw the implementation of the state’s far-right turn: tax cuts, gerrymandering, the motorcycle abortion bill...

ok dood

My biggest problem with chiropractors is the cost; it’s rarely covered by insurance (and maybe that’s a good thing, idk), so when I ask them how much it costs, the answer all too often is some variation of “how much can you afford?” I can get behind sliding scale fees, but paying for chiropractic services feels too…

Yeah, I don’t know what to say to PP - probably not much more than I’ve already said. I’m just not buying the whole “my take is rational and yours is paranoid and wrong” vibe I’m getting from them.