Posted: 5/22/2005 9:36:00 AM EDT
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Rice: Gun Rights Important As Free Speech By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic WriterWed 11 May 2005 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion. In an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live," Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defended the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves. Birmingham, where Rice was born in 1954, was a focal point of racial tension. Four black girls were killed when a bomb exploded at a Birmingham church in 1963, a galvanizing moment in the fight for civil rights. Rice said she favored background checks and controls at gun shows. However, she added, "we have to be very careful when we start abridging rights that the Founding Fathers thought very important." Rice said the Founding Fathers understood "there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Ala., when, in fact, the police weren't going to protect you." "I also don't think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution," she said in the interview, which was taped for airing Wednesday night. "The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment." The First Amendment protects religious, press and speech freedoms as well as the rights to assemble and petition the government. The Second Amendment guarantees "a well-regulated militia" and "the right of the people to keep and bear arms." Gun-rights supporters and those who favor gun control disagree over whether the amendment guarantees individual gun ownership. God Bless Her! I guess when you go to college at 15 years of age - there usually is BRILLIANCE behind it. In retrospect, a Republican spokesperson stated, "If anything the 1st and 2nd Amendments should be switched, for without the right to bear arms, I don't think we would be able to enforce or defend our other Amendments or the Constitution for that matter.". HERE, HERE! V OUT |
Yep, I watched part of the CNN interview. Larry King looked like he bit into a lemon when Dr. Rice voiced her pro 1st and 2nd amendment stance..... Funny stuff. King tried a couple of times to sway her but she wouldn't take it. She beat him with political correctness.... Quite a performance. BUT I'm sure she's not the biggest fan of the black rifle. Gun show checks were mentioned for one and reasonable gun control laws...... Where did I hear that rederick the last time? Ah yeah, I remember: Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Feinstein were using the same terminology...  Still, all things considered, she seems to be pretty levelheaded (esp. for a college edumacated person)...   Why we can't get some anti 2nd amendment laws repealed with a republican majority in congress I will never understand.  LRdrvr Reno |
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+1 on Rice, LRdrvr The gun law repeal movement is extremely slow because we are not considered to be a viable body of individuals. We are considered to be some sort of sub-terranian "culture." We are still regarded as the red-headed stepchildren that everyone has to tolerate. One thing the libs have found out though, if they ignore us we won't go away. I never refer to my fellow gun owners as members of the "gun culture," because the root word of culture is "cult." I choose to refer to my fellow Patriots as members of the "gun community." Maybe it's a play on words, but I believe that the word community paints a better picture of what we represent and who we are. One thing about the gun community, we all speak the same language and carry the same badge..... The 2nd Amendment. May God bless America.... Be Safe. Joe |
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ishoot2live, I'm under the impression that almost nobody dares touch gun issues. The Dems have learned that it'll cost them dearly if they go overboard with gun control (fallout of the "94 Clinton bs) but somehow the more freedom loving representatives and gunowners don't make it a hot topic either. I agree with your analysis of why they don't - I just am baffled. Boy, if I ever would hold public office..... Phew, class 3 and no import problems anyone?! (Well, I guess that's the reason why I will never hold such office....).   (Not that I want to!!)LRdrvr |
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+1 x’s 2, LRdrvr. I agree that that almost nobody dares touch gun issues because of the political repercussions, but on the other hand I do I believe that we need certain laws. If we assert minimal laws we will certainly have anarchy and lawlessness (not a good thing).... If we have innumerable laws (which I believe we currently do) we are destined to have tyranny and totalitarianism (not good either)... At this point our lawmakers have proven to me that they are inept in achieving a balance between the two. If I were King and had all the Gold I would instantly repeal the National Firearms Act of 1934 and make all Class III weapons available to law abiding citizens who are not habitual violent felons and/or mental incompetents. Yes, I know that under current law we can acquire Class III’s, but the Tax Stamp requirement and the approval process seems unfair to those who have never committed a crime or have spent time in the Booby Hatch. I don't believe it should take in excess of $12,000.00, a colonoscopy, and six months of waiting to own a 16. I don't mean to sound like a wacko, but I think our planet has skipped a gear somewhere along the line and the balance of intelligence is suffering. Just look around you….. Be Safe. Joe |
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Good stuff, variable. You may or may not have seen it, but I and others have posted here several times over the past few years with similar comments taken from her writings years before she was being mentioned as any kind of contender for a nat'l political office (lest anyone think the above comments are only recently-contrived political grandstanding). I don't have the quote here handy, but IIRC she described herself as having an "absolute view" of the Second Amendment. She makes this 'Bama boy proud she's from our "Sweet Home."  (Don't forget, though, that there were many here recently ready to crucify her over some comments re: the Minuteman Project...) |