Article

2025-10-16 -Lurid Crime Tales-

There are No Illegal Guns, Pam, Just Illegal People

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Elmatle Shineper3447 2025-10-16 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1787 views ] Top
File under: Migrants/Illegal Immigrants

1 I beg to differ and quote Elie Wiesel (Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor):

“... know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?”

Acts people commit can be illegal, not the person.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-10-16 05:25|| 2025-10-16 05:25|| Front Page Top

2 There are "legal aliens" and there are "illegal aliens." Both are terms of reference describing alien persons IAW with current law.

Think of it in terms of weapons. A Suhl manufactured Merkel shotgun is a legal weapon. A Merkel shotgun with barrel shortened to 15 inches is an illegal weapon. Still a weapon, but an illegal weapon, in accordance with current law.

Posted by Besoeker 2025-10-16 05:46|| 2025-10-16 05:46|| Front Page Top

3 Even if the term exists in current U.S. law, it's wrong. A person can't be "illegal", only his/her actions.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-10-16 06:11|| 2025-10-16 06:11|| Front Page Top

4 Technically speaking, a weapon itself can't be "illegal". It's production, possession and use can be. The term "illegal weapon" is ethically less problematic though as a weapon is an object, not a human being.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-10-16 06:17|| 2025-10-16 06:17|| Front Page Top

5 The difference revolves around responsibility. By claiming the weapon is illegal in and of itself, the weapon also is assumed by many at least to be culpable.

In our classic jurisprudence the weapon is an inanimate object and can have no intention, thus neither legality nor illegality.

Or as the James Earl Jones said to Conan, 'What is the sword to the hand that holds it?'.

Posted by Cesare 2025-10-16 08:00|| 2025-10-16 08:00|| Front Page Top

6 Idiomatic expressions ('illegal alien') are usage derived compressions because language is lazy.

Posted by Skidmark 2025-10-16 08:11|| 2025-10-16 08:11|| Front Page Top

7 As it is written in the Book of Nonsense, "It is better to wank over what the meaning of 'is' is than to fix the problem".

Posted by SteveS 2025-10-16 08:40|| 2025-10-16 08:40|| Front Page Top

8 With all due respect to Elie, if you're a criminal, you're illegal.

With respect to "illegal" guns, they're only illegal because someone passed a law in contravention of the US Constitution. (Rest of the world... you're on your own)

Posted by Mercutio 2025-10-16 10:23|| 2025-10-16 10:23|| Front Page Top

9 If you have engaged in behavior that violates the laws of the United States, you are a CRIMINAL. "Illegal alien" is a cop-out from calling the person that has entered illegally (against the law) a criminal. With all the laws on the books today, we've all broken one or more. Some are just more deserving of being pursued than others.

There are NO "illegal weapons". There are weapons held illegally by people who shouldn't have them. The PERSON is the criminal, not the weapon. We're destroying the meaning of our language to assuage the guilt of idiots.

On a personal note, I hold that ALL "gun laws" limiting the possession of any type of WEAPON, up to but excluding nuclear weapons (too hard to maintain, too dangerous to hold) to be unconstitutional and a violation of the Second Amendment. Nothing in that amendment allows the government to limit what weapons we the people may possess.

Posted by Old Patriot 2025-10-16 11:52|| 2025-10-16 11:52|| Front Page Top

10 There's a difference between a "criminal person" and an "illegal person". May sound like nitpicking but isn't.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-10-16 12:16|| 2025-10-16 12:16|| Front Page Top

11 The illegal action that makes an alien "illegal" is that he broke into our country and is here illegally.
Compare to someone who broke into your home. They may still be a person but they are in your home ilegally.

Thus the term illegal alien.

Posted by Difar Dave 2025-10-16 12:16|| 2025-10-16 12:16|| Front Page Top

12 Fine, give them an option....they can be illegal aliens or foreign invaders, subject to summary execution as spies and saboteurs. I'm fine with choice #2

Posted by Silentbrick 2025-10-16 12:19|| 2025-10-16 12:19|| Front Page Top

13 Fine, European Conservative. From now on,I will refer to them only as "criminal aliens".

Posted by Rambler 2025-10-16 13:38|| 2025-10-16 13:38|| Front Page Top

14 "Generally, it is not a crime for a removable alien to remain in the U.S."

U.S. Supreme Court, Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012)

Posted by European Conservative 2025-10-16 15:51|| 2025-10-16 15:51|| Front Page Top

23:34 Whiskey Mike
20:08 trailing wife
19:17 Lord Garth
19:02 Woodrow
18:08 swksvolFF
17:19 swksvolFF
16:53 Matt
16:30 Joluger+Omeremble1257
16:17 Big Unurong5862
15:51 European Conservative
15:22 Mercutio
14:54 Gomez Unolutch2721
14:38 swksvolFF
14:35 Rambler
14:32 Skidmark
14:30 Skidmark
14:30 Regular joe
14:28 Skidmark
13:38 Rambler
13:24 Frank G
13:24 swksvolFF
13:18 Frank G
12:54 Abu Uluque
12:43 BrerRabbit
Merry-Go-Blog