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from the founding-fathers-didn't-have-tazers dept.
Massachusetts' ban on the private possession of stun guns—an "electrical weapon" under the statute—does not violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the state's top court has ruled.
The decision says ( http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stungunMA-ruling.pdf ) (PDF) that the US Constitution's framers never envisioned the modern stun-gun device, first patented in 1972. The top court said stun guns are not suitable for military use, and that it did not matter whether state lawmakers have approved the possession of handguns outside the home.The court, ruling in the case of a Massachusetts woman caught with stun gun, said the stun gun is a "thoroughly modern invention" not protected by the Second Amendment, although handguns are protected.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @02:35PM
That is subverting the very fabric of the constitution.
I do find the importance placed by Americans on their constitution to be quite quaint. It's like it was another holy book, equal to the Bible, the Quran or the Torah. Like a secular religion practiced mostly by those who claim to have an actual religion.
There are orthodox Jews who sit in darkness on Shabbat because or their opinion that some ancient desert dwellers would have interpreted flicking a switch as work. And so here we have people trying to second guess what some 200 year ago people with no knowledge of the modern world would have thought of an electrical device.
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(Score: 4, Disagree) by tibman on Tuesday March 10 2015, @03:27PM
It has reigned as ruler longer than any other King/Queen, Emperor, or Pharaoh. If i had to pick a supreme power to rule my nation i would want it to be something like the US Constitution.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @04:12PM
The 200 year history of your constitution is pitifully short.
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(Score: 2) by tibman on Tuesday March 10 2015, @04:19PM
Um, i guess that is something we'll work on then?
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday March 10 2015, @04:20PM
I do find the importance placed by Americans on their constitution to be quite quaint.
I know. The government should just be able to do whatever it wants, completely ignoring the social contract.
There's nothing religious about wanting the government's powers to be limited. If you don't like the constitution, it can be changed by going through the proper procedure. You can't arbitrarily allow the government to extend their powers simply because the founders couldn't have envisioned technology X. The spirit of the constitution must be taken into account, and courts should always be in favor of freedom. If the government wants more power, then it'll have to try to amend the constitution.
(Score: 1, Troll) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @06:06PM
All you are saying there is that you too believe in the religion.
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(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday March 10 2015, @06:21PM
I see you're fond of snarky straw man arguments.
(Score: 2) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @07:11PM
No. It's just that your religion looks very different from the outside than within it. With telescopes we can look at other galaxies and see them for what they are - Their thick centre, their spiral arms. But from within it, the structure of the Milky Way is impossible to make out.
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(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday March 10 2015, @07:14PM
You're describing yourself. Your religion is redefining religion to mean whatever you want it to mean, which conveniently also allows you to ignore the arguments at hand. It's hard for you to tell, but outsiders can tell easily. Clearly this is the case, and not more irrelevant garbage.
(Score: 2) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @11:12PM
You're describing yourself.
And the majority of the world who are similarly able to see America for what it is. A perspective that American's themselves don't have.
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(Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday March 10 2015, @11:21PM
And the majority of the world who are similarly able to see America for what it is.
So you're admitting you're part of a religion, then? And apparently you can simply decide that other people are part of this religion too. People who decide how other people feel are part of yet another infamous religion.
Everything is a religion, you see. I like to use butter; that's a religion. Like to play baseball? Nice religion you have there.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 10 2015, @07:14PM
I do find the importance placed by Americans on their constitution to be quite quaint. It's like it was another holy book, equal to the Bible, the Quran or the Torah. Like a secular religion practiced mostly by those who claim to have an actual religion.
Who cares what you think is "quaint"? It'll be hard to find four pages of a written work with greater importance.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by BasilBrush on Tuesday March 10 2015, @11:10PM
Hallelujah! Brother! Hallelujah! Praise be to the Good Book!
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(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday March 10 2015, @11:28PM