Feb13
Another Letter To Ted Cruz
on February 13, 2013 at 10:18 amPosted In: Media Criticism, Political Commentary
…on the history of, and absurdity of banning “assault weapons” and normal-capacity magazines.
The AR-15 is the modern equivalent of the musket.
Good summary of the facts, but the appeal to the Constitution and to US v. Heller may have been tactically unwise. Telling a congressman that a thing is unconstitutional and will surely be struck down by the Supreme Court is not likely to be recieved as, “Don’t do this!”. To a skilled legislator, such a claim is interpreted as, “If it’s popular, go for it! The courts will strike it down, you’ll get credit for trying, the Supremes will take the heat, and the people who were against it all along won’t have anything to rally against come campaign season!”
If the Supreme Court then declines to strike it down – and US v. Heller was clearly the ruling of a court that does not want to be called back to referee any debate over which guns can or can not be banned – then you wind up with a bad law that nobody wanted but everyone hoped someone else would block.
You want a congressman to not do something, make him believe that if he does it he will be actively responsible for something percieved as horrible. If all you do is make him believe that he will be wasting his time, well, he’s a congressman, you do the math…
While that’s true as a general political tactic, in this particular case I think that Senator Cruz is more concerned with the Constitution than most congresspeople.