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7 Reasons I am a Single Issue Voter

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 23:33
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(Before It's News)

VoteI admit it, I am a single issue voter, I know the moral arguments against using a single issue as a litmus test, and I am aware that in the complicated nature of the modern word, and how that complicates the decision making process. Yet I am proud of my single issue stance, and if you permit me to wax political on a “relatively” politics free website I will show you why.

If I had a teenage daughter, the main advice I would to ignore everything the boys say and judge everything they do… This works as a defense against hormonal teen boys, but I think it is an even better defense against politicians.

In my experience, politicians think about the next election more than anything else, and while they may not actually “Lie” none will tell you exactly what is on their mind.

Until we get statesmen that are more concerned with the next generation, instead of the next election, I have to have a method to cut through what a politician says, so I can to get to the meat of how they think.

The problem is that voting records don’t tell the entire story, and I believe that reasonable people can be influenced to change their beliefs over time if convinced of the validity of those new beliefs.  Reagan, for instance, was once a Democrat, yet his conversion was not called “flip-flopping”, because he could clearly articulate his reasons for becoming a Republican. Personally, I used to be much more liberal in my views toward the justice system.

As my education level grew, I gained experience working in corrections, and through my firearm training, I have refined my viewpoints over time as it relates to justice, fairness, and the most effective means of solving interpersonal conflict. I am now much more conservative in those aspects than I was in my younger days.

However, even though my political philosophy has become more conservative, my basic principles have remained unshakable. I want a strong country, where kids are well taken care of and the elderly can live out their lives in dignity.  I firmly believe that hard work and intelligent decisions must be rewarded and the lazy and willfully ignorant should have to face those consequences.  I demand that my family can live in peace.  I think most of those desires are universal (unless you are a politician wanting the votes of the lazy and ignorant)…

I believe that I found one issue (out of several possibilities) that gives me an insight into a person’s thought process so that I can forecast their actions based upon their stand on this one principle.

Care to take a guess what that issue is?

Guns

Why guns?

I am going to illustrate 7 ways a politician’s stance on private gun ownership gives me an insight into his true belief system.

  1. In the Constitutional Republican system of government, where the government’s role is to protect and defend a citizen’s rights, the government’s safety is enhanced by an armed citizenry that can come to the aid of the government as needed. “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State”…. Any politician that understands their role in government, and who believes they are a public servant does not fear an armed citizenry.
  2. Gun ownership by responsible citizens is a rational act. Guns are inanimate objects, they are neither evil, or good. It is how they are used that matters. It is undisputed that some evil people have access to firearms. Becoming emotional over the issue does not change that fact. Depriving law abiding citizens the equal level of equipment so that they can defend themselves makes no sense. If a politician solves problems by emotion rather than calmly evaluating facts, then I do not want him deciding any issue for me.
  3. Gun ownership is a personal decision; it is not a solution appropriate to every situation. Politicians cannot make laws that take every situation into consideration, they cannot legislate common sense. Any who try to do so does not understand their place in a Constitutional Republic, or how laws actually work.
  4. Politicians that believe gun regulation prevents crime do not understand crime, criminals, or the true purpose of legislation. Making something illegal only prevents law abiding citizens from performing the act. Legislation should not be judged on what the lawmaker wants the law to accomplish, but rather, what the law DOES accomplish. Gun free zones ensure that law abiding citizens do not have firearms in specifically marked locations. The misdemeanor offense of carrying in a prohibited location does not stop someone intent on committing a felony. Anyone that fails to understand that basic concept really does not deserve anyone’s vote.
  5. It is Constitutional – and our Constitution is a legal contract between the Federal Government, our States, and ourselves. The Second Amendment is the teeth behind the contract – and in a document outlining 10 equally binding contractual clauses, our founders felt that it was second in importance only to the concept of free speech. Failure to understand such a foundational concept shows me that the politician is not ready for office.
  6. The wording used in the Second Amendment is very simple to understand, and anyone that does not grasp the meaning of “Shall not be infringed” has no business attempting the complex reasoning required to lead our country.
  7. It is none of their business; America was not founded to be a nanny state. Any man that believes he is better able to determine what is best for my family than I am is one step away from believing I am not smart enough to determine who the best leader for the country is, which leads to dictatorship, which leads to item 1.

I could go on and on, about the benefits of guns, or the ineffectiveness of gun laws, or all the cases of the federal government breaking its own firearms laws to traffic guns to terrorists, but that is not the point.

The point is that if a politician does not trust me, then I cannot afford to trust him. There is no greater measure of trust than to meet an armed man as an equal; to salute him and say, “I see your weapon, I know your skill, but I know you are honorable, and I bear you no ill will. I am no threat to you, and you are not a threat to me.”

Tags:  single issue voter


Copyright © Shepherd School [7 Reasons I am a Single Issue Voter], All Right Reserved. 2012.

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