Thread by @KrisB_Brown

OK, let's talk about a "well-regulated militia."

The NRA used to have the text of just the second half of the Second Amendment emblazoned across their Virginia headquarters.

Hmm, I wonder why?

🧵Thread

I know because, as a Virginian, I have spent years passing by (and protesting at...) the NRA's Fairfax headquarters — which they're getting kicked out of, but that's another thread for another time 🤣virginiamercury.com/blog-va/declar…

So why this Second Amendment erasure?

For decades, the NRA has tried to mislead people into thinking the Second Amendment has nothing to do with a "well-regulated militia."

...But that's why the Framers added the 2A to the Constitution.

We must ask: How does the NRA and gun lobby even define a "well-regulated militia?"

Because, let's be clear, I can't think of any semi-rational scenario in which the Boulder shooter could be defined as such.

And yet —

https://twitter.com/NRA/status/1374149559484551171

I said "Boulder shooter," but it's really "[insert city here] shooter."

Las Vegas shooter
Sandy Hook shooter
Parkland shooter
Orlando shooter
Charleston shooter

...Were these gunmen all members of a "well-regulated militia?"

No. No, they were not.

Also, let's take a second to just talk about the word "militia."

We need to stop calling armed extremists — including domestic terrorists and hate groups — "militias." time.com/5905374/armed-…

The Boulder shooter was not part of the militia.

None of those mass shooters I listed ever carried out their mass murders as part of the U.S. militia.

In fact, all 50 states prohibit private militias and paramilitary activities. #EndGunViolence

History lesson: Private militias were banned starting in 1903 w/ the Militia Act.

The only legal militia is the National Guard, which is part of the reserve components of the U.S. Army & Air Force.

As @stengel wrote in that Time piece, "THEY are the militia. Period."

PERIOD.

Just DAYS before the massacre in Boulder, the NRA celebrated a court ruling against a Boulder ban on assault weapons.

This kind of thing happens all the time. washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03…

Time and time again, the NRA and gun lobby throw their vast financial resources (ie blood money) into efforts to deprive local governments (like Boulder) of the authority to enact gun violence prevention laws, or so-called preemption laws. #GunReformNow thetrace.org/2021/03/boulde…

So now that we covered the "well-regulated militia" part of the Second Amendment, what does that leave us?

In District of Columbia v. Heller, SCOTUS ruled that the that the 2A confers a right for “law-abiding, responsible” citizens to possess guns in the home for self-defense.

So, just as Justice Scalia observed in the Heller decision, the Second Amendment is like any other constitutional right in that it has limitations based on public safety.

Life-saving, sensible "limitations" like background checks, waiting periods, safe storage mandates, etc.

To sum:

✔️ The Boulder shooter was not part of the militia —¯ no matter what the NRA says or wants you to believe

✔️ Other mass shooters in America also aren't militia members

✔️ Strong gun laws are entirely consistent with the Second Amendment

I'll end w/ this quote by Warren Burger, a Justice appointed by Nixon: "The Gun Lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American People by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime."

Here's more on that. milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/war…

P.S. Like this thread? Visit dissolvethenra.org to learn more and take action.

And please, please don't let your outrage end today.

On behalf of @bradybuzz, thank you.