Are you radicalized?
Are you radicalized? Are you an extremist? Are you a fundamentalist? Are you a constitutional constructional originalist?
Do you take your AR 15 to drop off your daughter at daycare? Do you take your Sig Sauer to church? Do you take your Remington 870 shotgun to work?
Do you think you have the right to own any weapon manufactured as long as it's not a nuke? Do you think all ammunition should be available to you, even that which is designed only for killing people especially people who wear body armor? Do you think magazines, clips etc should be capable of any capacity, only limited by ingenuity? Do you think guns should be as easily purchasable as a bag of candy at your corner convenience store? Do you like to take your gun out for a walk like it's your dog just because…well…you can?
I have news for you. You are no different than the other extremists in the world. You would fit right in with the philosophy espoused by any of the worlds extremist groups. You bring fear and terror to your own neighbors, even people you think are your friends, and especially your family. Extremists in a democracy, this democracy, need to be marginalized not worshipped.
You want a firearm, as described by the founding fathers? Then join a militia as the second amendment requires. How about a mussel loading rifle as existed when the bill of rights was promulgated? Do you think for one minute that the founding fathers would have subscribed to a society in which single gunmen could wipe out an entire village or town?
This argument could go on down these familiar paths, but I think the NRA provides the clearest proof of concept that military style weapons and even concealed carry weapons are not a good idea. Show up at an NRA meeting, you will not be let in if you are armed. Any wonder why? The NRA is not as much a guardian of your alleged second amendment rights as they are ferocious defenders of the gun industry’s notion to sell whatever they want to whomever they want whenever they want.
The NRA has become a terrorist support faction and the politicians in their thrall are aiding and abetting the slaughter on our streets. If our democratic society cannot survive without these weapons of anarchy and mass killings then what are we admitting about ourselves? Are you radicalized, an extremist, a fundamentalist?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Bad shape, they wobble too much in flight....
Pacifists are radicals in their own right. You don't have to be a gun-pusher to be radicalized.
I've seen "kids of color" radicalized. They go from trying to fit in and trying to succeed to turning their backs on everybody else and closing ranks around their nifty new ideas. "Newton's laws are white men's laws. We need our own equations, and reject what old white men said--they're just words." Good luck with rejecting classical mechanics and saying that there's a different set of physical principles and laws for those who aren't "old white men." Perhaps F = ma works in Europe, but in Africa it's F = 1/2 ma and in Mexico it's F = square root (ma/3)?
Radicalization can be a fairly harmless aberration or a turn to nihilism or ideological violence. "Consciousness raising" is often radicalization. Islamic radicalization is no different from Xian radicalization: I am a member of a group with strict beliefs at odds with the world's, and must turn my back not only on what is obviously at odds with it but regard with suspicion all things until proven to be in keeping with my new, closed belief system. It's a re-orientation, a redefining of your beliefs and worldview. My brother-in-law was radicalized and became an atheist, a sort of militant atheist ("No, I won't visit you while you have that loathsome crap in your living room--Xmas trees are part of an evil idea called 'religion'."
I was a radical Xian, "fundie" according to most here, but our "mother church" (we were a traditionalist break-away faction) went to jail for refusing military service when drafted even in WWII. It was staunchly pacifist. At the same time, most of the members were also staunchly pro-gun.
I guess that made us a fear-mongering violent pacifist group? No, these were more libertarian than totalitarian, because they'd be free to practice their religion without interference if libertarian. It was a pain to give 10% of your income to the church, 10% to the poor, 10% in reserve for holy day observance, give anything more you could to the poor, and still pay all the taxes required. Having guns, though, wasn't part of the religious beliefs; obeying authorities as long as they required nothing explicitly un-Christian was part of the belief system.
