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"2A absolutist" Ramaswamy believes in gun rights for felons [1]
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Date: 2023-09-07
Disgraced ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo interviewed GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy on his misleadingly named “As a Matter of Fact” podcast. During their chat, Ramaswamy, who has decided that MAGA bigotry and uber-conservative wet dreams pave his path to the nomination, defended his “Second Amendment absolutism.”
Cuomo asked Ramaswamy if his promiscuous views on gun ownership meant,
“Everyone has a gun? Everyone has an assault weapon? A former felon? No background check? Concealed carry?”
To which Vivek replied,
“Has the right to. And I do think concealed carry is important, constitutional carry is important.”
He added that background checks are “absolutely a legitimate part of the process” but that “law-abiding” gun ownership “deters many violent criminals from being able to roam the streets with guns as they do today.”
Ramaswamy is reputed to be an intelligent guy — and he does know how to make money. But in all other areas, he presents as a moron. If everybody has the right to carry a gun, what are the background checks for? And if everybody has the right to concealed carry, does that mean incarcerated felons should have a piece in jail?
If I take Ramaswamy at his word — probably a losing proposition, as the guy is addicted to lying —then all Americans, including ex-felons, would have the right to take a gun into Congress, the White House, or on a plane.
Guns could be like cars. If you need one, and for whatever reason you do not have one, you could rent one — at the airport if necessary.
I suppose there are some on the far extreme of the lunatic fringe who subscribe to that unfettered freedom, but I suspect there are even some MAGAs who are scratching their heads and muttering, “he said what?”
Even among politicians who shy away from doing the heavy work of understanding policy — an increasingly common defect in conservatives — Ramaswamy comes across as a dilettante. Perhaps he really thinks that guns prevent crime — instead of the more likely calculation that he knows the base believes so. Regardless, either way, it is a fact-free position. Where is crime highest, especially gun crime ? Red States. Where is gun ownership high? Red States.
Ramaswamy does offer another solution for gun crime. He said those people who are “psychiatrically ill and dangerous and violent” should be removed from their communities and institutionalized, acknowledging the proposal is “controversial.”
Of course, it is controversial. To begin, who knows if Vivek meant we should lock up every psychiatrically ill person and every dangerous and violent person? Or does he intend that we should every violent person who was also mentally ill? It makes a difference. People who are mentally ill are rarely dangerous. And many violent people are not mentally ill.
Even if it were a workable idea, conservative legislatures would never fund it. Mental healthcare in America — especially for the bottom 50% — is a joke. The system is nowhere near robust enough to identify every potential murderer. And even if it were, we would be in Minority Report territory — locking people up for crimes they may commit.
Given the constitutional protections of due process, even this Supreme Court would be unlikely to prophylactically deny citizens their freedom just ‘because.’ Thomas and Alito would gleefully do so, but the rest still at least pay lip service to the Constitution.
Note: This does not apply to red flag laws, 72-hour involuntary commitments, and denying guns to people likely to harm themselves and others, which are far less intrusive measures.
I do not know from the reports of their conversation if Cuomo asked Ramaswamy if his arms absolutism extend to allowing citizens to possess fully automatic weapons, RPGs, and tanks. That is too bad. If Ramaswamy had said it did, we — and more importantly, most of the electorate — could dismiss him as a dangerous lunatic — again.
If he had said it did not, Vivek would have admitted he is not a “2A absolutist" — that he does believe in limits. But his limit includes allowing violent people to have guns until they are locked up because they are violent. It is complete nonsense.
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