Recently a colleague of mine wore a t-shirt into a meeting with an image of an assault rifle on the front. The image was constructed out of artfully designed characters which spelled out “We the People.”
I found the shirt obnoxious, not because of the depiction of the weapon, but because of the misappropriation of the phrase.
“We the People” is one of the most cherished phrases in all of America’s history. It describes a large and wonderfully diverse group of individuals tied together only by their American citizenship. ‘We the People’ vary by race, gender, religions, ethnic backgrounds, cultures and political ideologies.
The t-shirt clearly intended to imply that ‘We the People’ cherish our right to private ownership of these types of weapons.
In fact, polls show exactly the opposite to be true. A large majority of ‘We the People;’ including many responsible gun owners, 2nd amendment proponents, and members of law enforcement; favor the prohibition of private ownership of such weapons of war.
In balance, ‘We the People’ choose the right to life of our children, grandchildren, and other beloved members of our families over the right to private ownership of such weapons.
Politicians of both parties are guilty of the misappropriation of the phrase and its counterpart, the American People, to reflect minority opinions as if they were universally shared by all.
The single biggest improvement we could make to strengthen our democracy would be to have Congress change or discard those operating rules of the House and Senate that allow strongly held partisan minority opinions to masquerade as the true beliefs and desires of ‘We the People.’
John Rosen
Mesquite
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6 thoughts on “LETTER: The misappropriation of ‘We the People’”
Terrific letter. It’s way past time for meaningful gun control to include mandatory background checks. It should always be more difficult to buy a gun than getting a driver’s license.
David, perhaps you don’t know: Nevada already has ‘mandatory background checks” for all firearm sales. Retail sales have been covered by federal law forever and a day. Private party sale background have been in effect since 2020. Was there something else you wanted to add on top of that? Or you just were not, perhaps, aware?
This was actually a pretty good argument about the phrase, except for the outright lie in the middle about which side the “large majority” was on. But we also have the freedom of speech to have an opinion, and lie, and publish it.
While I think a good point is being made about who encompasses “We the People,” it starts off on the wrong premise: “The t-shirt clearly intended to imply that ‘We the People’ cherish our right to private ownership of these types of weapons.”
I don’t think it implies that at all, but rather the opposite frame of reference. It implies that modern firearms owners are a significant (and largely silenced) part of “We the People.” The shirt is actually championing the reasoning that “We the People” are from all walks of life, including being owners/users of modern firearms.
Lacking citation of actual polls and data sources? This deceptive approach has become tiresome and meaningless. When arguing Constitutional topics, at least provide substantive sources, otherwise its an opinion piece!
Would you make the same imputations about someone who wears a shirt with a Pride Rainbow font “We the People?,” that they are saying everyone is gay, or that gay people are ALSO represented by “We the People?” Because this is the exact same thing.