You know, we can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans to legitimately own handguns and rifles-it's something I strongly support-we can't be so fixated on that that we are unable to think about the reality of life that millions of Americans face on streets that are unsafe, under conditions that no other nation-no other nations-has permitted to exist. And at some point, I still hope that the leadership of the National Rifle Association will go back to doing what it did when I was a boy and which made me want to be a lifetime member because they put out valuable information about hunting and marksmanship and safe use of guns. But just to know of the conditions we face today in a lot of our cities and other places in this country and the enormous threat to public safety is amazing.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker supports gun ownership rights but urges balance with public safety concerns in unsafe urban environments.
- In plain terms
- We should support gun rights but also focus on making cities safer for everyone.
- What can you take from it?
- Balance individual rights with collective public safety needs.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you balance individual rights with public safety?
- What makes a community safe?
Another view
It does not specify how to balance these competing interests practically.
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