Imagine: The Second Amendment Empowerment Act

The more I got to thinking about how Constitutional conservatives are handling the gun rights issue, the more it seemed to me we are going about this all wrong. Given the ignorance and gullibility of the low-to-no-information voter and the guaranteed fierce opposition of the Progressive-Agenda Media, we're not going to make any headway in public relations by dutifully explaining that gun bans are ridiculous and don't work (and in fact are counter-productive).  Instead, we should be taking a lesson from the Progs on how to "reframe" an issue to our advantage... like they did with voting rights during the campaign season.

Not only can we link gun rights to voting rights based on the fact that both are equally fundamental to our Constitutional system, but we can also mimic the "messaging," the language, of the Progs.  One has only to look at how successfully Obama appropriated the language, "fair and balanced" - from FOX News! ~ to see how this might nullify the original usage.  In this last standoff with Congress, all he wanted was for Congress to hammer out a "balanced approach" so The Rich could pay their "fair" share of taxes. So much for "fair and balanced." It's been rendered meaningless (much like "Hitler" was rendered meaningless when applied to President Bush).

Let's take, for example, this post from The Hill's Congress Blog - The Voter Empowerment Act: More necessary than ever (May 2012, by Democrat Senators John Conyers and Robert Brady). What happens if we keep their buzzwords but substitute our real concerns for their posited ones?  It's an interesting exercise, one I undertook but only lightly, editing off the top of my head (and admittedly without much background knowledge).

Perhaps it could be made to work or lead us to another, more viable, approach?

Note: The strikeouts are self-explanatory; my substitutions are in red.

* * * * *

The Voter Second Amendment Empowerment Act: More necessary than ever By Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) - 05/30/12 10:08 AM ET

There is no more important right in our society than the right to vote keep and bear arms  – it is the basis of the defense of all of our other rights. It is why generations of Americans have fought {and died} for the right to vote use arms for traditionally lawful purposes. And as a result of  in spite of their sacrifices, today government and society as a whole has become more less reflective of the democratic principles enshrined in our Constitution.

Given the importance of this hard-fought right, the American people deserve an election system that not only protects but enhances every eligible voter’s adult citizen’s ability to register, cast a ballot, deter tyrannical government and participate in our democracy ”defense of themselves and the state” (Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776). But rather than improve access to the ballot box guns, over the past year states have enacted laws which undermine this fundamental right.

Legislatures across the country have ended same day voter gun registration. Many have limited or eliminated early voting purchasing opportunities and severely restricted voter mobilization drives access to Second Amendment rights. And states have adopted restrictive photo identification right to carry requirements which exclude common forms of identification. These laws are barriers to voting gun ownership and could disenfranchise millions of ... eligible voters gun owners.

... [W]e believe strongly in Congress’ role as a guardian of voting rights the Constitution, including the Second Amendment.  In light of this recent trend, Congress must do more to ensure all American citizens are able to freely exercise this precious right.

[....]    

Congress has long acted on a bipartisan basis to protect prohibit and expand restrict the right to vote keep and bear arms. Since it originally passed adopted in 1965 1791, Congress the Supreme Court has voted three times to enhance [...]  interpreted the Second Amendment at least four times -- most recently in McDonald v. Chicago (2010), wherein the Court ruled that the Second Amendment limits State and local governments to the same extent that it limits the federal government 

 Protecting and enhancing the right to vote Supporting and defending the  Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic” and “bearing true faith and allegiance to the same” is a long-standing the bedrock of Congressional prerogative obligation.

The Voter Second Amendment Empowerment Act protects the integrity of elections the Constitution by improving eligible voters’ adult citizens’ access to the ballot box freedom to lawfully exercise their rights.

It modernizes voter gun registration using existing technology to automatically and permanently enroll consenting eligible voters adult citizens while also making certain voter gun owner information is secure and accurate.  It would also provide for online registration, allow same day voter gun registration at the poll gun stores and shows and simplifies the registration process for members of the military serving overseas. The bill also ensures the integrity of elections the Constitution by providing funds to better train poll workers and by banning officials in charge of elections from participating in campaigns to diminish the Second Amendment rights of the people.

Additionally, this legislation protects voting Second Amendment rights by outlawing vote caging and deceptive practices designed to interfere with an individual’s right to vote keep and bear arms through intimidation and misinformation. [....] The bill declares that a voter citizen shall not be denied the right to vote self defense unless the challenge is corroborated by independent evidence, and it also prohibits persons other than election official from challenging a voter’s eligibility based on voter caging invading citizens’ rights to hold property in privacy and other questionable challenges. Majority-minority neighborhoods Conservatives are often the target of this practice. And Vote caging The publication of addresses of citizens who choose to avail themselves of the right to keep and bear arms disproportionately harms individuals who change addresses often such as students and service members those individuals who have no guns by increasing their vulnerability to exploitation by criminals. 

These are common sense steps Congress can take to ensure every eligible voter adult citizen who desires to participate in lawful self defense can do so and that federal elections proceed government at all levels ensures and protects their rights in a fair and transparent manner.

Given there is an election six months away, it is our hope that our colleagues on the Committees on the Judiciary and House Administration will demonstrate their commitment to the democratic process by holding hearings on the Voter Second Amendment Empowerment Act.

The loudest sound that exists in a democratic society is the voice of a voter in an election. Ensuring that every minority, every service member, every senior citizen, and every student adult citizen has the right to vote keep, bear and use arms for traditionally lawful purposes should not be a partisan issue.                        

Rep. Conyers (D-Mich.) is the ranking Democrat on the the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Brady (D-Pa.) is the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee.

 

Maybe this is too confusing. What do you think?

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

You're definitely on to something here, Yael. There's no doubt that in the last election, the Dims' messaging was far superior to ours. That's basically because the Dims are grievance mongers; they personalize every message; they appeal to the gut, not the brain. They appeal to the "me" in every voter; they're much better at one-on-one messaging than we are. We Republicans are better at talking about "principles." The problem with that is that it intellectualizes politics -- makes it sound abstract, theoretical, IMpersonal. And in today's America, the IMpersonal can be -- as we learned in November -- a sure way to lose elections. Take your rewritten pitch about guns: it sounds down-to-earth, conversational, easy to understand -- even though it deals with a topic that could just as easily sound stiff and professorial. That's because it's written in Democratic -- not Republican -- language. If this rewritten pitch proves anything, it's that we conservatives have a lot to learn about getting our ideas across. If we can learn how to beat the Dims at their own game, we can start beating them at the polls as well.