{"id":629,"date":"2017-10-04T11:04:46","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T15:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/?p=629"},"modified":"2017-10-07T22:38:35","modified_gmt":"2017-10-08T02:38:35","slug":"whose-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/whose-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Whose Rights?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Some days I\u2019m not sure how much more sorrow we can navigate as a nation. After the brutal terrorist attack in Las Vegas, after Sandy Hook, after Pulse, after daily multiple murders that have become seemingly routine, have we been dulled to our outrage?<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And then there is the knee-jerk response from the right and the NRA: now is not the time to debate gun laws. Well if not now, when? When we have time compartmentalize our anger and grief? When we can make the people whose lives were taken and the ones who suffered loss unimportant? During election years when the NRA can buy the votes it needs? When?<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong with now?<\/p>\n

If I hear one more 2nd<\/sup> amendment advocate tout that \u2018this is the cost of freedom\u2019 I believe I will hurl. We need to amend or void the second amendment. Amend it to include the six words when serving in the militia. <\/em>Read Justice John Paul Steven\u2019s well reasoned 2014 argument here:\u00a0https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/the-five-extra-words-that-can-fix-the-second-amendment\/2014\/04\/11\/f8a19578-b8fa-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html?utm_term=.aabb5e76d28d<\/a><\/p>\n

My question today is: whose rights?<\/p>\n

Rights enshrined in the very body of the Constitution are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The 2nd<\/sup> Amendment, as currently interpreted, infringes on those rights. The lack of sane gun control costs thousands of people their lives each year. Not only in mass shootings but in domestic violence incidents, and because of negligence that gives access to weapons by toddlers and adolescents.<\/p>\n

NOW we need to focus on our citizens\u2019 right to life. Maybe even come to understand that the \u2018right to life\u2019 includes enough to eat, a place to live, and healthcare. And the right to liberty. Because people are afraid to go to concerts, shopping malls, and sporting events. Women are afraid of their partners. And those fears imprison us. Finally, though happiness may be difficult to qualify, it has been snatched from thousands of our citizens by gun violence.<\/p>\n

Why are some rights privileged over others? Why does your right to own a weapon trump my right to live? Our priorities are skewed, friends, in so many ways. But let\u2019s begin here. Let\u2019s begin by advocating for our right to stay alive.<\/p>\n

Let’s give new and urgent meaning to the phrase \u2018right to life\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Some days I\u2019m not sure how much more sorrow we can navigate as a nation. After the brutal terrorist attack in Las Vegas, after Sandy Hook, after Pulse, after daily multiple murders that have become seemingly routine, have we been dulled to our outrage? \u00a0 … Continue reading Whose Rights?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,23,25,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":638,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/connietuttle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}