The Menacing Rise of the 100 Percenters

So they've changed the subject to guns. That's not right. But now that this is the debate, both camps have to navigate it carefully.

Gun-loving conservatives are not careful. The 100 percenters are back. But this time, they're on the right.

You might support the Second Amendment and believe, as I do, that Americans have the right to bear arms. And you might even be willing to overlook, as I am, the fact that the amendment was written in the late 1700s to provide for a "well-regulated militia" -- the need for which no longer exists.

But what if you raise the issue that, while the founders were talking about the right of minutemen to own muskets, we now have to contend with semi-automatic weapons of war that can injure or kill dozens of people in just a few minutes?

What if you think these types of weapons should be banned, and the people who sell them jailed or held liable for civil damages when lawsuits are filed by the families of victims? What if you say that you're fine with the idea of limiting the number of high-capacity firearms that any one individual can own?

What if you're uncomfortable with the National Rifle Association having such low regard for law enforcement officers that -- years after opposing a ban on armor-piercing "cop killer" bullets -- they brush aside concerns by chiefs of police that bad guys have such easy access to heavy artillery? And what if you're distressed that the NRA treats Republicans in Congress like puppets to the point where Democrats recently had to stage a protest on the House floor to try to pressure GOP lawmakers to even hold votes on bills that would keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists whose names are on the government's "no-fly list"?

Moreover, what if you understand the politics -- that Republicans are going to fight just as aggressively to serve the NRA, which showers them with campaign funds, as Democrats did to defend Planned Parenthood, which does the same for them?

If you think this way -- in fact, if you think at all -- you're likely to be told that, surprise, you never really supported the Second Amendment to begin with.

Well, what do you know about that?

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.