“Guns have no rights. People do . . . Catholics, other Christians, and other people of good will, should watch our words. What we should protect and discuss is the Right to Self Defense and the Defense of others. One of the means we may choose to use in doing this involves the ownership of a gun . . .

BFG-Long-Logo-Blue-JPG-220x39“The Right to Self Defense is vested in us – not in those objects or instruments we use. That right can be exercised, and those objects and instruments may be used, only if and when it may be proper and necessary.” – Deacon Keith Fournier in Gun Rights? Guns Have No Rights, People Do! Self Defense is a Human Right [via catholic.org]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

112 COMMENTS

      • He’s right in his assertion.

        Most “Christians” are no longer Christian in any meaningful biblical or philosophical way. Christendom has been converged. The current Pope is nothing more than an ordained SJW, who interprets the word of God to meet his own philosophical ideals of how the world should work.

        Like Obama, when it comes to the constitution.

        • CHRISTIAN, n. One who believes that the New Testament is a divinely inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of his neighbor. One who follows the teachings of Christ in so far as they are not inconsistent with a life of sin.

          bierce

        • Gtfoh with your Catholic bigotry , I’ve never heard a priest or decon in the Midwest say ban guns or anything of the sort, I see more Catholic bashing on this thread rather than understand the truth he said . I don’t care if you don’t believe in God,that’s your right and choice ,but don’t be an ass an assert that catholics are weak sheep,that just makes you a fool.

        • You’ve nailed that one. This pope is an avowed communist living the dream & preaching social justice, not living a Christ like life. Take from others by force of government and redistribute it to the parasites of the world.

        • Don’t you have a kkk rally to go to? Funny how you don’t mind Catholics on the Supreme Court. Also funny that there are no Protestants. I assume your kind is too busy fvcking your sisters to pass the bar.

        • And now I’m a racist? Awww shucks, you’re making me blush. You must be lost. You’re looking for Vice.com, where whiny pansexuals such as your self can complain about starbucks not recognizing your preferred gender pronoun. Now run along, child, grown ups are talking.

        • This whole exchange illustrates why we will lose in the end. We’re so busy picking at each other, the enemy just has to troll us and we do the work for them, grinding each other down and splitting us up. All the religious bs, the fudd vs operator bs, y’all need to grow up, decide what’s important, and quit pissing in the wind.

          Ps, no one I’ve ever heard describe themselves as a “good Christian” or say “I’ll pray for you” acts anything like a Christian. They’re generally mean spirited little people.

    • More proof that Protestantism is the best version of Christianity.

      It produced the enlightenment, and with it America, Liberty, Capitalism, a work ethic that takes us to the moon and soon Mars while Catholicism produces mindless, brainless, penniless, disarmed hordes that follow a pointed hatted would be God King on a throne in Rome.

      Their is a Reason the Anglosphere is great and everywhere the Spanish looted and screwed remain backwaters, steeped in poverty, crime, and without a future….

        • You refer KKK branch of the Dem Party? Has pretty much gone underground.

          “Cross burnings” of recent years have been found to be the actions of black agent provocateurs demtards. Essentially anarchists or at least anti American. They don’t have the nadds to go BACK to Africa just settle for trying to blow up the US. The types that Soros loves and funds (now rebranded as blacklivesmatter).

        • Ah the classic “you understand that not all point value liberty, therefore you are a Klansman/Nazi” card.

          Yawn. It no longer works. I know its hard to understand your tactics are not and will not work again but that is your problem.

      • I’m having a hard time remembering the names of Columbus’ ships. Wasn’t it the Gunderman, the Carl, and the VonTrapp?

    • The acceptable Christian bashing on this site along with the many Influential Jews and Jewish institutions being given a free pass on their anti 2nd Amendment stance gives this site an elitist, racist feel at times.

      • All Catholics are Christians, not all Chrisitans are Catholics. Please at least keep your categories clear.

        • news to me, there are many things wrong with the Church, as there are with the various splinters of it that veered over the past 2000 years. But, there are many good things as well.

        • Ah… Pg2… Where would we be without your asshatery? My point was that the Catholic Church is about as anti-freedom these days as the Soviet Union. That’s what you get for electing a commie pope. Fortunately, most denominations of Christianity don’t believe that some old man in a funny hat halfway around the world is somehow closer to god than others.

        • @Pserge, Ha, I’ll raise my asshatery to your egregious hypocrisy, though I do agree with you regarding the pope. At the same time, the “commie” Pope has nothing on you, as you would like turn the US health care system into North Korea.

      • Christian, Muslims, and Jews all get bashed on this site.
        The editor of the site has repeatedly, really at every germane opportunity, pointed out the foolishness of many Jews and Jewish political groups in their opposition to armed defense.

        • I know we POTG have an awful tendency to eat our own, but “My god kicks the shit out of your god” threads are such great entertainment..

        • Ahhh…
          George Carlin nailed it:
          “My god’s dick is bigger than your god’s dick.”

          RIP GC
          (Though somehow I believe that GC will never be at peace.)

        • I’ve seen the Catholic Church and religion repeatedly attacked on this site, I’ve never seen Jews collectively attacked this way on this site. Maybe you can direct me to where this has happened, possible in the 3-4 years reading this site I’ve missed it.

        • @Taylor, I’ve read most of these articles. I disagree with your assertion that these attack Jews and especially Jewish institutions..

        • I stay out of these threads as a general rule, same old name calling, and people taking it all too seriously.

          The reality is what Judeo-Christianity (and the entirety of Western Civilization) needs to actually be worried about is Islam, and those who profess to believe in it. Because when Muslims get into arguments like this amongst themselves, the people who actually follow the Quran are the ones who win every argument, by intimidation, force, and bloodshed. There are no “moderate” Muslims in charge of anything, the “true believers” are always at the helm – or will be soon.

      • Not all (fill in the blank) are like that.

        Do not want to be seen a subversive group, working against America, its people, their rights, wealth, Liberty, Happiness, and future?

        Dont do, say, support, fund, propose subversive things!

        Also the idea that one group of people is beyond reproach, criticism, investigation, or condemnation because (inset non exist reasons here) is antithetical to Liberty, and the people who value it.

        You would rather be beloved and enslaved by your masters then be free and hated by those who could but desire to enslave you…

      • Hey, I resemble that remark.

        I, as a baptized Christian, have found only a few of those bigoted, hateful, and intolerant species of human beings termed “atheist” on this site that feel free to throw ad-hominems at people like myself that believe in a higher power other than the fickle, irrational, delusional and some times insanely vicious and bloody heart of man, and their earthly altar to their blood drenched demi-god, the state. (Stalin, Mao and Hitler as only a few examples)

        I find the freedom of this site to express and and also to read these views…..freeing. After all, the freedom to hold and express un-popular, “elitist” and even “racist” views, is the essence of the first amendment.

        • Anything he does not like is “racist” of “offensive” because “we are all equal, and all peoples, cultures, etc all produce Liberty, only WASP culture produced it first because insert moronic excuses here”.

          The idea that some people, cultures, values, benefits, politics, choices are better then others upsets these blank slates because it proves that equality is a myth

        • I agree H.B. The most frightening idea to these r of the r/K selection driven entities is that “All things being equal, every person, or culture, is not equal”.

          Of course, the very seeds of the destruction of the obvious superiority of the western culture in freedom of thought, science, technology, art, food production, medical science and military might is because of our proven dominance in all of these areas of human endeavor.

          This is shown in the r/K selection theory which explains why all dominant societies in the past have always collapsed into a dark age. Now, if any society can actually counter this genetic driven tendency to self -destruction, it would be our society, our culture. We will see.

        • I, as a baptized Christian, have found only a few of those bigoted, hateful, and intolerant species of human beings termed “atheist” on this site that feel free to throw ad-hominems at people like myself that believe in a higher power…

          I, as a person who believes in what is provable, have found only a few bigoted, hateful, and intolerant species of human beings termed “Christian” on this site who feel free to throw ad hominems at people like myself who have seen no evidence of any higher power, and if there is one, he/she/it makes a lot of mistakes.

          Believe whatever you want, but anytime people start suggesting that the cure to every ill is “faith”, do expect that those of us who have no gods, yet manage not to kill, rape, murder, or break into your house, who believe in self-defense, and most importantly The Constitution, are generally nice folks, might just disagree.

    • Actually what he says is right on point, and for the record nearly every Catholic I know is a Republican who supports gun rights.

      • I was born in and grew up in Maryland which was the only one of the original colonies to have been majority Catholic. Maryland still has a significant Catholic population rivaled only by the likes of Massachusetts (and that only came about due to 19th century Irish immigration).

        Look at how firearms friendly the states run by Baltimorons and Massholes are, look at Catholic population, and draw your own conclusions.

        • Does the commie Pope want the US government and pharmaceutical industry to control an individuals medical and health care decisions? Oh wait, that’s you.

    • Actually, he doesn’t. He literally says in his article

      “I do not own a gun. However, I fully support gun ownership. I also believe it is properly protected by the Second Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution.”

      • What he personally supports is irrelevant. The church he comes from and for which he speaks is as anti gun as they come.
        Senior gun owner 1950

        • Absolutely not. He is speaking for himself and is providing a Catholic counter point to the “official” church doctrine. There is now, and has always been, division in many opinions within the Catholic church. Individual priests have the moral obligation to speak out.

    • You need to actually read what he said before you speak. His point was that the right to self defense includes, but is not limited to guns. To frame the 2nd Amendment as only relating to guns minimizes and weakens it – it’s about the right to bear arms and to self defense.

      Catholic thought and philosophy is almost always intelligent and well thought out. People may disagree with it, but those who dismiss it as stupid or simple usually just reveal their own ignorance or prejudice.

      I have to say, TTAG editorial staff didn’t do their best work on this headline. Follow the link and read the article. Most of the haters clearly never got that far, which is both sad and illustrative.

      • Interesting! The Roman Catholic Church seems to think that deacons “teach in the name of the Church”
        http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/vocations/diaconate/faqs.cfm
        Decons are just one more layer of RC con men; hence decon is the correct spelling
        . If he’s only speaking for himself then he’s making “confused and confusing representations of Catholic teaching.” which is grounds for his removal from the diaconate. But it’s not likely that the Whore of Babylon is going to ex[ell him.

    • Hey I like that Andrew…I’ve been calling (him?) “fadda’ flegma”?Far from the worst from the world o’ Catholics…

  4. The good Deacon apparently hasn’t read the Constitution or the historical documents supporting the Second Amendment. Either that or he’s flaming anti-gun liberal hiding behind his religion. My money’s on the latter.

    • The 2A speaks to arms not firearms. It encompasses all weapons from a stick to a cannon.

      This was a quite purposeful decision because the learned men who drafted those words knew they could not foresee all possible weapons of the future and decided not to limit the protections of future citizens.

      The Deacon is quite right to say the argument should not be about the means of defense but the underlying fundamental right to self-defense regardless of implement chosen. When that right to self-defense is understood and cherished there is no need to debate the technology allowed because it will be understood all tools to that end should be available to the individual.

    • If your reading comprehension is that poor then your parents should sue your school district to recoup the property taxes they paid for your education.

    • Did you only read the headline? The underlying article written by him indicates total support of the second amendment.

    • Wow. Did you even open the article and read the entire thing? I did and his argument isn’t a gun control position, his argument is how words matter and to ensure we argue with correct terminology.

  5. Wow. Exactly so..

    I do wonder how Bloomie n his paid shills rationalize trying to take away other people’s means to protect themselves.

    From behind armed guards, themselves.

    “Others” B-n-company have never met.

    “Others” who live far away.

    “Others” who have explicitly chosen differently; personally, with their time n monwy, and politically.

    It’s like these “others” are un-people. “No guns for you!”

  6. Fight the good Fight…how pray tell does one do that when local, state and federal governments infringe on the right of lawful self defense and systematically remove arms from authorized purchase? Who creates laws and conditions to purchase ammo? Public servants who decide on their own to create laws that make a past lawful purchase now illegal. Entrenched representatives who methodically present annual anti gun legislation with no concern about being voted out of office….the infringement continues.

    • We have one stop to fill, then Thomas plans to step down if Trump wins (please God!) then the witch, followed by Bryers will die off.

      We have a chance to restore the court, and use it as a good of restoration of the republic. We need Liberty minded people on the right, not wish washy cucks like Lindsey (I love open borders, and giving away America to leftist voting hordes) Graham who voted for a “Wise Latina” and a Marxist Midget.

    • Like Judge Nap. Like him a lot, but [that’s NY, right?] which cop, and how much, did he pay for his CC permit?

  8. So just reading the quote above I don’t see any problem. The deacon says we should emphasize the fact that we are asserting our natural right to defense and that we should only use a gun when necessary. That’s absolutely correct.

  9. Hmm

    No it’s not a right.

    It’s a survival necessity.

    I can do without walking naked in the street. I can’t do without being, well, alive.

  10. From the same folks who brought us the great oxymoron that is “liberation theology.” This is my surprised face.

    • If you think the Catholic Church is the author and sole advocate of “Liberation Theology” don’t bother looking at the Anglican Church because they embrace its tenets more than Catholics do.

      • Though I’m agnostic now, I grew up Presbyterian and have a Greek Orthodox best friend, taking cheap shots at Catholicism is a habit. Never knew the Episcopalians were also foolish enough to support the same hispanic communist faction that would have them all killed in their “vanguard utopia.”

    • No, it’s not semantics. The devil is always in the detail, and whoever controls the language wins the debate. Propagandized language is used against individual rights 24/7 by the media and pop culture. Guns do not have rights, people do(or used to anyway).

  12. Well said. I just wish the Pope had said this in his “infallible” voice.

    Now if only we could get a similar statement on “gun violence” …

    • The Pope is only infallible (and to be considered so) in direct matters of Faith.

      In matters where the (this current) Pope (and all those in agreement) fosters Liberalism_Communism [which has been shown throughout history to be completely antithetical/contra/and directly destructive-to Christianity and Catholicism] he (and they) can #NaCl in his goat-a_ _.

  14. Well it doesn’t do us much good if we have the legally recognized right to keep and bear arms but not the legally recognized right to use a gun in self defense. And once they’ve taken our right to use a gun in self defense they’ll take our right to use any tool, even our fists. Look at the UK. There was a case a while back where someone in New Jersey (I think) saved a boy who was being mauled by a dog with a gun, but because he stepped a few feet off his property with the gun to save the boy he was arrested. I think they eventually dropped the charges after the incident was publicized, but they clearly have no respect for our right to self defense as well as our right to possess dangerous weapons. So yes, the argument should be framed as being about our right to self defense rather than our ‘gun rights’. The gun just happens to be the best tool for the job.

  15. Open response to Decon Fournier:
    And by the same logic there’s no such thing as “gun violence” There’s only violent criminals who use a gun to commit their acts of violence against peaceful law abiding citizens. The RIGHT to KEEP AND BEAR ARMS and the the right to self defense must be exercised or they’ll be surrendered piecemeal to the “reasonable restrictions” of the gun grabbers including the Roman Catholic Church. Gun grabber who want to “rehabilitate the poor underprivileged person of color who turns to violent theft robbery and murder our of mere necessity.”

    Decon Fournier, do you REALLY expect people to believe that your purpose was “NOT to enter into the charged debate referred to in shorthand as “gun control”” Give us a break. Of course your purpose was to enter into the gun control debate. And then you continue and conflate gun control with abortion and marriage rights?

    Just STFU. Go back and actually READ the the position papers of your gun grabbing church.
    Remember the 1994 document by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace The International Arms Trade: An Ethical Reflection, Under the heading “Furnishing Arms to Groups That Are Not States,” the document says:
    .An indispensible measure would be for each State to impose a strict control on the sale of handguns and small arms. Limiting the purchase of such arms would certainly not infringe upon the rights of anyone (4:8).

    The Roman Catholic Church sees “a strict control on the sale” of such weapons as “indispensible”

    And if that’s not enough, there’s always the 2000, U S Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Policy paper titled Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice, It states:
    All of us must do more to end violence in the home and to find ways to help victims break out of the pattern of abuse. As bishops, we support measures that control the sale and use of firearms and make them safer (especially efforts that prevent their unsupervised use by children or anyone other than the owner), and we reiterate our call for sensible regulation of handguns (“Policy Foundations and Directions” 4).
    A footnote to this section states:
    However, we believe that in the long run and with few exceptions (i.e., police officers, military use), handguns should be eliminated from our society. “Furthermore, the widespread use of handguns and automatic weapons in connection with drug commerce reinforces our repeated ‘call for effective and courageous action to control handguns, leading to their eventual elimination from our society.’” U.S. Catholic Bishops, New Slavery, New Freedom: A Pastoral Message on Substance Abuse (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1990), 10.

    And let’s not forget the original Catholic call for an ultimate elimination of handguns. In the 1975 statement titled Handgun Violence: A Threat to Life. Which your church said
    We acknowledge that controlling the possession of handguns will not eliminate gun violence, but we believe it is an indispensable element of any serious or rational approach to the problem.
    Par 79. Handgun control.
    We support the development of a coherent national handgun control policy that includes: a several day cooling-off period between the sale and possession; a ban on “Saturday Night Specials”; the registration of handguns; the licensing of handgun owners; and more effective controls regulating the manufacture, sale and importation of handguns. We recognize, however, that these individual steps will not completely eliminate the abuse of handguns. We believe that only prohibition of the importation, manufacture, sale, possession and use of handguns (with reasonable exceptions made for the police military, security guards and pistol clubs where guns would be kept on the premises under secure conditions) will provide a comprehensive response to handgun violence.

    So Decon Fournier get real, Your oh so reasonable discussion about just rights terminology is nothing more than smoke an mirrors. You come from a church with a long line of anti gun policy statements. And from all these, it’s absolutely clear that the Roman Catholic Church is anti gun and anti Second Amendment.

    Senior Gun Owner 1950

    • Give the deacon some credit. He has the audacity to think for himself, rather than blindly parroting church dogma.

      Which means he’ll never be a bishop.

    • You forgot the worst of the worst, the D Con, or Democratic Con Man, many of whom proudly call the awful state of CONnecticut home.

  18. I am probably going to catch some heat for this but . . . When it comes to the mass shooting scenario (only one of many mind you) the idea that a citizen CCWing a pocket pistol is going to stop it, while not laughable, borders on wishful thinking.

    A “mass shooting” is essentially an ambush on very soft targets. The aggressor has a major inherent advantage here coupled with fact that he/she/they are usually better armed than your average CCer. If it is more than one shooter the chances of a civilian(s) stopping them just dropped significantly.

    If armed civilians could stop a spree shooter as often as we would like then they would have so by now. Yes, there have been a few cases where a good guy with a gun does appear to have lowered the potential body count. However, compared to the number of cases where a cop or suicide stopped them it is very small.

    America, indeed the world, is spiritually sick. More guns or more gun control is not going to fix our problems. Free societies can do very little when a small percentage decides to go off the rails. I am thankful for the few times civilians have fought back and won; a fighting chance however small is worth fighting for. I also think that governments do not have the right to deny armament parody (2A). However, you don’t call an electrician when you have a leaky faucet and as many have already pointed out here guns are merely tools . . .

    • The issue doesn’t hinge on your odds of success but your right to self defense, even if that defense is likely doomed you still have a natural God given right to fight back. You also have a right to wear clothing that would allow you to conceal something larger than a pocket pistol. Concealed weapons carriers do repeatedly stop mass shooters but you’re not going to hear about it on the national news when the body count is only one or two. And the vast majority of the shooting sprees that make the news occur where legal carriers are prohibited from going armed. Further, you mention the possibility of multiple attackers but fail to mention the possibility of multiple armed civilians. Perhaps if one person defied the law and went armed to the Pulse nightclub that night it would not have made a difference but what if it was a dozen? What if it was100? The results would have been dramatically different even if they were all carrying pocket pistols.

      • I agree w/ you that people should be able to defend themselves and that gun control is BS. I think armed people stop/prevent many “crimes” and you do not hear about it often. I think that those crimes are usually different than a spree shooter scenario. Again, if “it” could work it would have by now.

        I think you do agree w/ me in that the odds are slim. And I agree that people should still have the ability to fight back. I think 2 attackers w/ a plan trump 2 civilians w/ one who have trained together and they definitely trump 2 random guys who respond separately. I am looking at this more from a military perspective in that ambushes are a *itch and that is true even w/ better numbers, armament parody, training, and war-time heightened awareness . One or more wolves against a bunch of sheep and the occasional sheep dog(s) equals very bad odds.

        A bunch of (more) people being armed is not the cure you are looking for. Americans are better and more armed than anywhere; expecting a large enough swath of the population to daily carry and be proficient with a firearm is not ludicrous but it comes close. Again, gear is not the problem nor is it the solution. America has a problem (not just the USA) and it is not the kind you can touch with your hand. Call it psychological, moral, spiritual, etc. it is intangible and it is real.

        • I’d agree that America is inflicted with several social illnesses but I don’t think we’re alone. These are basically global in nature.

          From a tactical standpoint I don’t think a lone good guy is at quite the disadvantage that you think. First, if you’re in a crowd of 200 people and a lone gunman walks in and starts shooting, how much time do you have before he turns the gun on you? You could be first or it might take several minutes and a few reloads to get around to shooting you. Pure blind luck. Second, if you are shot, are you going to be completely incapacitated? Even mortally wounded people can often shoot back. Chances are much bleaker if there are multiple attackers, but if you have the opportunity to take one out, are the others even going to notice? It’s not like they’re going to hear your shot over the others and they’re probably going to be looking at and for victims rather than keeping an eye on their buddy’s six.

          Now on the other hand if there are 10 or 20 armed citizens dispersed among the 200 what are the odds that the shooter(s) is going to get more than a few rounds off. If and when this happens it will not be reported by the mainstream liberal media because a) the body count will be too low and b) they’re corrupt political activists not really journalists. But there was no one at the Sandy Hook school that was armed but the murderer. There was no one armed in the Aurora theater except the murderer. The tactical odds of these victims surviving was exactly zero. So even if your odds of single handedly stopping a shooter are 10% that would look pretty good under the circumstances.

  19. This opinion needs to be spread around a LOT more amongst the Catholic Church (of which I am a member of). I’m tired of the usual “Culture of Life / Culture of Death” bs line I get from a lot of Catholic apologists out there, with respect to guns, who live calmly in the quiet backwaters of those who will rain hate on their oppressors (at least at end state). I could quote Ezekiel 25:17 (but the good line is over-used in Pulp Fiction).

    If Catholics want to rage against something, IT BETTER BE: abortion, our (D)head prez, (D)head voters, and anything that goes against our (U.S.) Republic/Constitution/RTKABA/Capitalism, etc., because anything else wants an open-season on Catholics and, if I am ever convinced to go over to that side, I am going to also press that Catholics, and Catholicism, be hunted for sport, like they are in much of the world today. When JESUS comes back, their won’t be one left even moaning. HE can ask me why, and I can ask for forgiveness.

    UNTIL THEN. . .

    THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, MOST HIGH, CREATOR OF ALL, WHOSE SON IS NAMED JESUS, AND WHOSE SPIRIT IS CALLED HOLY [because some of you are f’d up on that]. JESUS SAID TO PETER “PETER, YOU ARE MY ROCK, AND UPON MY ROCK, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”. Peter went to Rome, was hung upside down on a cross (in deference to our LORD), and is buried under St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where the Catholic Pope holds Mass. Despite whatever human frailty it suffers, GOD has not wiped it away. The rest of the “Christians” are LATE-COMERS to the party

    Deferentially, I would say that Catholics defer to the notion and will of GOD, as to how long the Catholic Church continues, but (in shrinking awe of my LORD), I would remind the rest of you that HE has allowed it to continue until now, when human history could have wadded it up with a 2″ x 2″ piece of duct tape before it even started.

    LAOS DEO !!! until the end of time.

    MOLON LABE, while GOD also allows it.

  20. Technically, he has a point. But that argument would be too easy to circumvent and legislate gun control due to how the second amendment is worded and our current legal system.

    I agree in a sense but understand that framing the argument in this manner completely is asking to lose.

    We have the right to self defense and access to the tools (arms) to exercise the right. Anything else is the same as, I agree, but.. ..

    • I think you hit on an important comparison. Schwiggie’s upstream post and Pg2’s response to it, along with one from Pyratemime, and a couple of others hit on this. Putting aside all of the other issues for a moment, one point being made is that inanimate objects do not have rights. We POTG often point out that there is no such thing as “gun violence”, none of my guns (nor any others, to the best of my knowledge) have ever displayed any violent tendencies. Some may call it semantics, but details are important. Whether you think spoken words impact the way we think, vice versa, or both; how we talk about it is important.
      The difference with “voting rights” is that voting is a behavior, a “vote” is not. We do not talk about “vote rights”, which would be the rights of an inanimate object or of a conceptual construct. I am not advocating that we talk about “gunning rights”, that would be catastrophic. But I do think we should avoid the short-hand of “gun rights” to maintain credibility when we criticize others for talking about “gun violence”. To many this may seem like being too picky, but it is my 2 cents worth. To most here it is obvious, but it is worth the elaboration.

  22. Spellcheck applies to headlines, too.

    A couple of commenters got it, but the word is
    “d e a c o n”.

    In my vocabulary, “decon’ is short for ‘decontamination’. Whether one might feel that should apply here is a matter for personal reflection.

    • And the Roman Catholic Church has been the subject of decontamination going back to at least Martin Luther. Decon definitely applies here.

  23. The judge is on point.

    Oh, and I LOLed my way through this comment section. Guns+Religion just might be the ultimate troll tool.

  24. “The Right to Self Defense is vested in us – not in those objects or instruments we use.
    mmmm…..okay.
    Catholic Deacon? Who cares?

  25. When ANY religious organization start paying taxes, then they have a right to voice their stance on a political view. Until then, they need to stick to their flavor of God.

    Christ could have said, by the way guys, SPOILER ALERT: The world is ROUND.

    All the rants about religion on here, no wonder the middle east is always at war, they have lots of firearms, no real law and way too many flavors of the “right” God.

  26. My gun has a RIGHT to be with me and a DUTY to protect me at all times.
    And it knows if it fails to do so I can always get another one to replace it.
    This one’s for killing and this one’s for fun.

  27. I expected this to be about how to decontaminate one’s gun group of Catholics.

    “Decon” is short fr decontaminate, right?

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