"Mr. Pratt is contacting Fox News to correct their misunderstanding," the GOA spokesman informed him. Here's the statement:
As much as I appreciate Fox News, they misstated my position on the Wayne Smith case arising out of South Dakota. So let me break it down:I should have known.
1. As I have stated all along, I do not agree with what South Dakota is doing in denying the right to keep and bear arms to alien residents. Wayne Smith SHOULD BE ABLE TO OWN A GUN!
2. Our fundamental rights do NOT come from government, the Bill of Rights or the Constitution … they come from God. Hence, law-abiding citizens should be able to carry concealed firearms as a matter of right (without permission from the government) and that is why GOA has consistently supported legislation modeled after Vermont’s successful permitless carry law.
3. Aliens living in this country still possess their God-given rights. Note, however, that within our constitutional system of government, some rights of citizenship (such as the right to vote) are fully protected only for actual U.S. citizens. This is, perhaps, where the confusion has arisen. On the one hand, I argued that aliens should not be able to vote in our country. But fundamental human rights such as the right to self-defense as embodied by keeping and bearing arms, on the other hand, SHOULD MOST DEFINITELY extend to everyone, period.
4. As for the xenophobia that some have accused me of because of the misunderstanding relating to Wayne Smith … well, that’s laughable. I’ve been happily married to a Central American immigrant for nearly 50 years -- and I fully support her right to keep and bear arms as much as I support Smith’s … and yours.
-- Larry Pratt, Executive Director of Gun Owners of America
I wonder if all the Fairfax über alles GOA bashers who have been reveling in their Pratt-hatred will have the basic decency to issue corrections and public apologies?
12 comments:
I'm relieved to see this. I had been disappointed to think that Mr. Pratt apparently thought that the right to self-defense was conditional on citizenship, rather than inherent to humanity.
I should have realized that his position was misrepresented.
Ditto Kurt. I was not really ready for that to be true.
The GOA pretty much wiped out any chance that I'd support them in 2009 with an article titled Sheriff Joe Arpaio for Homeland Security Chief!
And frankly, that article is more consistent with the alleged misunderstanding than with Pratt's statement, so I'm highly skeptical about the whole thing. It certainly wouldn't be the first time some political figure said something vile and then tried to take it back later.
That Arpaio commentary was written by Tim Macy, not Larry Pratt.
Dittos, 45Superman.
Say Uncle has a letter from GOA regarding their position. Looks like Larry is lying again.
James, the "update" is prior to the statement release and from an emailer at GOA named Dugger that sent the inquiry to a supervisor, I'll give Pratt the benefit of the doubt for now.
i knew those prior quotes didn't make sense.
i certainly don't want someone thinking they can strut into the country and violate any of its various and more sensible laws -- but the answer to anyone trying to do that should be bullets or the threat of bullets; the defensive use of force; and not some stupid law that nobody will remember until it's too late.
Good to see that Reason has updated their original story on this issue, as well.
I owe Mr. Pratt an apology. Fox ran his statements on immigration and citizenship in general together with the permit issue and created a false context. Naughty, naughty.
I should have known, too.
"I wonder if all the Fairfax über alles GOA bashers who have been reveling in their Pratt-hatred will have the basic decency to issue corrections and public apologies? "
No - http://www.saysuncle.com/2011/01/11/larry-pratt-says-fox-misstated-his-position/#comments
'They come from God. Hence, law-abiding citizens should be able to carry concealed firearms as a matter of right'
Larry, what part of CITIZEN do you not get?
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