USA Today poll on the 2nd Amendment.

[gorfle]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/November/popup5895.htm

Currently 97% of 1.2 million voters say the 2nd conveys an individual right to bear arms.

[Purveyor]

1. Thank you for posting... K&R eom

[rrneck]

2. A gread day for literacy in America nt

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. That certainly seems to be the case.

[iverglas]

13. Davey, such sarcasm

The statement:

A gread day for literacy in America

Gread day in the morning, Paco! (You remember; Paco the parrot.)

Reminds me of an actual bit of a literacy campaign from my own parts some years back:

It's never
to late
to learn

Makes yer teeth hurt.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. In my experience misspellings and grammar errors are often forgiven here, we Americans are...

a forgiving lot.

David

[iverglas]

16. and irony

is underappreciated ...

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

17. Isn't that ironic?

[57_TomCat]

3. I support theindividual right...

but I do wonder if the vote is skewed from posting it on gun boards and such.

[slackmaster]

4. Any poll where participants select themselves attracts people interested in the subject

It's not scientific at all.

[iverglas]

6. I wonder

http://www.google.ca/search?num=30&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22USA+Today+poll+on+the+2nd+Amendment%22&btnG=Search&meta=

http://www.google.ca/search?num=30&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22USA+Today+poll+on+the+second+Amendment%22&btnG=Search&meta=

http://www.google.ca/search?num=30&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22USA+Today+poll%22+Amendment&btnG=Search&meta=

glocktalk ... johnrlott.blogspot ...

[gorfle]

7. And now here on DU. n/t

[iverglas]

8. right there in the search results!

Google catches DU posts virtually instantaneously, I've noticed.

It's happened before that I googled something from a brand-new post here, and there was the post in the results list. ;)

[jeepnstein]

9. The only polls I trust are open on election days.

It's far too easy for a few people to just call in a "fire mission" on a poll like that and make the data worthless. How many thousand times a day do you think an individual can vote on one of those things if they have the right tools?

I'm happy to hear most American Citizens agree on 2nd Amendment Rights. We have a few other issues that need to be as well-accepted but that's a topic for another forum.

[Mad_Cow_Disease]

10. Exactly. How many times around here do you see, "DU this Poll..." (n/t)

[gorfle]

11. Another problem with the poll...

The poll does not remember if you have voted already or not. Every time I visit the page it lets me vote, and in fact I have to vote in order to view the results.

[virginia mountainman]

18. Just goes to show we bill of rights supporters...

Are highly connected, and active, much more now, than in 1994...

[bossy22]

12. why does it matter

the second amendment is recognized by the US legal system as an individual right- thats all that matters in its case.

Its like asking people "do you believe that gravity is real" you can could get an answer such as 80% of the people don't think its real but when they step off a 20 story building...they are still going to go splat right on the ground

[gorfle]

15. Because...

It matters because all it takes for this legally recognized right to be changed is a Constitutional amendment. If 97% of Americans thought it was NOT an individual right, you could be on that road.

[Will E Orwontee]

19. RE: why does it matter

It matters because of the simple error in the polls wording; "Does the Second Amendment give individuals the right to bear arms?"

The true and constitutionally correct answer to the poll is NO.

The right does not flow from the amendment merely protecting it. The right was pre-existing and was only recognized by the 2nd not created, conferred, granted or "given" to the citizens by the 2nd's enactment.

The dangerous part of the granted / given mindset is the idea that the right can be taken away by repealing the 2nd or by voting the right away if 51% of the people think we don't "need" it anymore (SEE POST #15) . . . Since the government never possessed any power to impact the PERSONAL arms of the PRIVATE citizen there was nothing for government to "give" the citizen thus there is nothing for the government to "take back."

The right is not subject to the ignorant whims of public opinion nor is its existence subject to any vote.

[Xenotime]

20. 96% say "Yes" I guess people don't really read the constitution anymore.