On Sunday, Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich, a man with a mixed record on guns for decades (he voted for the assault weapons ban in 1994, earning him a temporary F from the NRA, but rehabilitated himself by signing into law a significant amount of pro-gun legislation in Ohio), suggested a complete ban on AR-15s in the United States.
This is an asinine argument.
We don’t limit our rights based on what we feel like exercising that day. If I couldn’t listen to John Kasich, my life would probably improve markedly — but my First Amendment rights and his would still be violated. Rights are rights whether we choose to exercise them or not.
Kasich’s version of rights, however, boils down to “stuff you want to do.” Well, what if I want an AR-15? In fact, I would feel that my Second Amendment rights have been eroded if I’m unable to purchase the most common rifle in the United States. And your answer to this question is going to depend strongly on your answer to another question: do you think the government should have a monopoly on guns? If you think the answer is yes, you won’t feel that your Second Amendment rights have been violated even by a total gun confiscation regime.
The word “feel” needs to be excised from our dictionary of political conversation. If it isn’t, our rights simply become communal whims.