by Zach Bigalke

Created on: March 11, 2008

The wording of this topic lends an easy answer to what should have been a difficult question. Should U.S. citizens ACCUSED of domestic abuse lose the right to bear arms? Certainly not...

This nation was founded on principles where the accused is innocent until PROVEN guilty. To abridge individual rights and freedoms - especially Constitutional freedoms - without any proof would be tantamount to igniting that sacred parchment with a ninety-nine cent Bic lighter. Certainly we have not allowed our executive branch to erode our liberties to the point where we are willing to take away people's freedoms before guilt has been assessed...

Had this topic been, "Should U.S. citizens CONVICTED of domestic abuse...", THEN we would have a serious topical debate on our hands. After a domestic-abuse conviction, there certainly is a groundswell of support to take away the right to bear arms. Knowing that there may very well be an imminent threat to the abused domestic partner/spouse, a judge - in individual circumstances and according to the unique characteristics of the case in question - should be afforded the ability to discriminately remit weapons-possession rights from those most dangerous domestic-abuse offenders... those who are at the highest risk of recidivism.

But to take away these rights, before a jury of one's peers can weigh the evidence at hand and either convict or acquit the suspect, we are effectively giving into the same scare tactics which have allowed the erosion of other American liberties through such measures as the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretapping and an unaccountable executive. There is a need for due process to be served before we strip individuals of ANY rights. The judiciary is designed to assess guilt or innocence, not to preemptively assume danger in a situation...

Blanket statements such as the aforementioned question only serve to damage our nation as a whole. If the government can indiscriminately sabotage those inalienable rights which were granted more than two centuries ago solely through suspicion or accusation, then we quickly will devolve into full-blown fascism... a police state. Let the courts determine guilt before taking away the right to bear arms - no matter WHAT crime an individual is accused of committing...

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