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After testifying in front of the Senate Committee, David Kopel shares his take on the gun hearings
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You all gun control but.
We know have professor David -- actually professor of advanced constitutional law at Denver university have a short time with him -- -- -- concentrate on him for a moment.
A professor thank you first of all very much for being here.
Well thank you for having me do you as I was saying just before you got seated we had very emotional.
Moments -- today they -- with a congresswoman.
I Gabby Giffords making that statement at the beginning.
We have the more reflexive positions of the of the likes of Wayne Lafayette and the others on the on the pro gun control side.
I was fascinated to listen to you coming at it from a constitutional.
Perspective.
Andy your perspective was was was pretty straight forward -- that the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution and that is that.
That that's right and that the Second Amendment is not any more absolute than other parts of the constitution such as the First Amendment.
And both of the freedom of speech the freedom of religion the right to keep and bear arms do you have absolute.
Parts but that doesn't prohibit any possible law on the subject so we can have strong gun rights.
And reasonable gun controls and the ones that are reasonable are the ones that improve public safety without infringing.
The ability of law abiding people to own and carry.
The -- of their choice for lawful self protection so so cough from a constitutional perspective -- you'll view.
It would be unconstitutional.
To instigate at an assault weapons back.
Sure because these -- assault weapons is really a misnomer.
Made up by the of the -- -- lobbies they're just regular guns that happened to look like machine guns.
But -- fire like ordinary guns you press the trigger one time you get one bullet.
Just like every other ordinary firearm.
And the Supreme Court in the District of Columbia vs Heller case.
Said what the Second Amendment protects what you can't ban is guns which are commonly owned by law abiding citizens for legitimate purposes and that's exactly these firearms.
The ar fifteen rifle has been for years the best selling rifle in the United States so that the professor at.
Isn't it had a legitimate argument though made by those on the on the side of all gun control to say that come on this is that this is a constitutional.
Amendment written at a time when we did not have the kind of weapons.
That fire.
-- of bullets in matters of minutes isn't that a reasonable argument because those weapons as we have seen in new time at Virginia Tech Aurora Colorado are so destructive towards human life.
Well you could make the same point about the First Amendment is back in the olden days if newspaper libel somebody.
How much damage it could do would be pretty limited -- now with television.
Television's far more powerful than an old fashioned newspaper -- on a Franklin Preston can.
Destroy people's lives and reputations in -- seconds look at how MSNBC made -- this fake video.
Yesterday all modeling the people.
Testifying in in not the Connecticut state legislature.
And falsely accuse them of -- -- when somebody.
That -- -- spread around the world literally within minutes that.
The media is much more powerful and used to be but if you think the media is too powerful -- the second amendments to powerful.
The solution is to Obey the constitution.
And -- proposed an amendment -- universal background checks are being constitutionally annual new professor.
It depends on how they're done if they have gun registration in the know they're not.
Because we know from the experience in New York City and from countries all over the world.
That gun registration is very frequently used as a tool for gun confiscation.
Later on and that's why congress has three times in 999041.
1986.
And 1993 outlawed federal gun registration all right professor David Cole a -- -- -- -- a -- constitutional -- Denver university.
I wish we had more time professor -- come back until -- again.
I would be honored to a fascinating to told -- thank you so much professor have an excellent -- of.
