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Right and Left React to the Deepening Divide Over Gun Control Right and Left React to the Deepening Divide Over Gun Control
(5 months later)
The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. That’s why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen.The political news cycle is fast, and keeping up can be overwhelming. Trying to find differing perspectives worth your time is even harder. That’s why we have scoured the internet for political writing from the right and left that you might not have seen.
Has this series exposed you to new ideas? Tell us how. Email us at ourpicks@nytimes.com.Has this series exposed you to new ideas? Tell us how. Email us at ourpicks@nytimes.com.
For an archive of all the Partisan Writing Roundups, check out Our Picks.For an archive of all the Partisan Writing Roundups, check out Our Picks.
David French in National Review:David French in National Review:
“When facing the big questions about guns — such as whether America should ‘ban’ an entire category of weapons (such as ‘assault weapons’) — it’s better, I think, to go back to the first principles embodied in the Second Amendment.”
If you’re looking for an argument that explains why keeping assault weapons legal is so important to some supporters of the Second Amendment, look no further than Mr. French’s column. Rooting his reasoning in Justice Antonin Scalia’s writing on the subject, Mr. French explains how any gun-control efforts must be evaluated based on these “twin purposes” of that amendment: “the amendment protects a person’s individual inherent right of self-defense and empowers the collective obligation to defend liberty against state tyranny.” Read more »If you’re looking for an argument that explains why keeping assault weapons legal is so important to some supporters of the Second Amendment, look no further than Mr. French’s column. Rooting his reasoning in Justice Antonin Scalia’s writing on the subject, Mr. French explains how any gun-control efforts must be evaluated based on these “twin purposes” of that amendment: “the amendment protects a person’s individual inherent right of self-defense and empowers the collective obligation to defend liberty against state tyranny.” Read more »
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A. Barton Hinkle in Reason:A. Barton Hinkle in Reason:
“Collective punishment should offend not just gun owners, but any American who believes in individual responsibility and due process.”
Mr. Hinkle proposes a gun control solution that protects gun rights: the “gun violence restraining order.” Such an order, he writes, would allow friends and family who suspect that someone may pose a danger to himself or others a way to alert law enforcement and prevent that person from acquiring a gun. The idea is particularly appealing to Mr. Hinkle because it avoids punishing the majority of law-abiding gun owners by tightening gun laws across the board. Read more »Mr. Hinkle proposes a gun control solution that protects gun rights: the “gun violence restraining order.” Such an order, he writes, would allow friends and family who suspect that someone may pose a danger to himself or others a way to alert law enforcement and prevent that person from acquiring a gun. The idea is particularly appealing to Mr. Hinkle because it avoids punishing the majority of law-abiding gun owners by tightening gun laws across the board. Read more »
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Rebecca Klein in HuffPost:Rebecca Klein in HuffPost:
“There’s an abundance of evidence suggesting that more school security means more vulnerable students getting funneled at an early age into the criminal justice system.”
A possible consequence to the proposal to make schools safer by adding more police officers is a potential negative effect on minority students. As Ms. Klein points out, black children are already more likely to be arrested on school grounds for relatively minor infractions like vandalism. When you add more police officers at schools, she writes, the “school-to-prison pipeline” only grows. Read more »A possible consequence to the proposal to make schools safer by adding more police officers is a potential negative effect on minority students. As Ms. Klein points out, black children are already more likely to be arrested on school grounds for relatively minor infractions like vandalism. When you add more police officers at schools, she writes, the “school-to-prison pipeline” only grows. Read more »
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Osita Nwanevu in Slate:Osita Nwanevu in Slate:
“That ultimately may be what galls conservatives about Stoneman Douglas’ teens most of all: They suggest the notions underpinning our status quo gun policy are infantile, beneath even them despite their youth.”
Mr. Nwanevu addresses those conservative commentators who have criticized the Florida teenagers who are speaking out on gun control. If any gun control measures result from this tragedy, he writes, “we’ll have the kids, and only the kids, to thank.” Moreover, referring to the conservative columnist Ben Shapiro, he points out that “young, supposedly precocious voices like his have proved deeply important to the modern conservative movement since at least 1960.” Read more »Mr. Nwanevu addresses those conservative commentators who have criticized the Florida teenagers who are speaking out on gun control. If any gun control measures result from this tragedy, he writes, “we’ll have the kids, and only the kids, to thank.” Moreover, referring to the conservative columnist Ben Shapiro, he points out that “young, supposedly precocious voices like his have proved deeply important to the modern conservative movement since at least 1960.” Read more »
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Lili Loofbourow in The Week:Lili Loofbourow in The Week:
“Uncomfortable confrontations like these, in which there is no conversion or resolution or repentance on either side, are real and instructive. We need to see many more of them.”
Sometimes the best debate is the one that has no clear “winner,” Ms. Loofbourow writes. She compares the difficult, and at times contentious town hall-style meeting held by CNN with the listening session held by President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The CNN gathering she argues, “gave grieving students, parents, and teachers in Florida a forum to confront lawmakers and corporate interests as equals.” She also points out that it is jarring to see “citizens treat their public servants as public servants,” a structure that perhaps allowed the politicians to speak to one another in ways we are unused to. Read more »Sometimes the best debate is the one that has no clear “winner,” Ms. Loofbourow writes. She compares the difficult, and at times contentious town hall-style meeting held by CNN with the listening session held by President Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The CNN gathering she argues, “gave grieving students, parents, and teachers in Florida a forum to confront lawmakers and corporate interests as equals.” She also points out that it is jarring to see “citizens treat their public servants as public servants,” a structure that perhaps allowed the politicians to speak to one another in ways we are unused to. Read more »
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The editorial board of Bloomberg View:The editorial board of Bloomberg View:
“Binary choices in public debates are rarely helpful. But too many Americans have allowed bad faith and fanaticism to hold this field for far too long.”
The editorial board of Bloomberg View is heartened by the message of the Florida students demanding change on gun laws: “You are responsible.” They write that adults should take a cue from these young people and enact “sensible gun regulation” including universal background checks. Read more »The editorial board of Bloomberg View is heartened by the message of the Florida students demanding change on gun laws: “You are responsible.” They write that adults should take a cue from these young people and enact “sensible gun regulation” including universal background checks. Read more »
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Have thoughts about this collection? Email feedback to ourpicks@nytimes.com.Have thoughts about this collection? Email feedback to ourpicks@nytimes.com.