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Jon Erik Kingstad

Afton, MN
Commenter for
2 years 45 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 01/18/13 at 10:22 pm in response to Minnesota values shaped civil-rights leader Roy Wilkins

Roy Wilkins. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man but I'm sure he'd be the first to insist that his achievements would not have been possible but for the contributions of other great leaders like Roy Wilkins, and even, despite their differences, Malcolm X.

Posted on 01/17/13 at 07:34 pm in response to Was the Second Amendment adopted for slaveholders?

Emmett Till. I can't believe someone would claim MLK as a patron of gun rights- the greatest and most celebrated exponent of nonviolence since Gandhi, Tolstoy, and Jesus. Or maybe I can believe it.

Anyway another score for Eric. Fascinating article and I dare say pretty close to, if not exactly, the truth.

Posted on 01/17/13 at 07:47 pm in response to Efforts should intensify to sustain fresh-water supplies

One of the best books I've ever read was "Cadillac Desert" which raised a lot of these concerns years ago. The spectre of global warming simply heightens those concerns. This article also reminds me of the suggestion of Frank and Deborah Popper who suggested that government support for these remote dry areas be withdrawn and the lands be allowed to revert to prairie and a "buffalo commons".

Unfortunately, our nation is inclined to ignore problems and wish them away until they...

Posted on 01/08/13 at 08:39 pm in response to It is time to repeal the Second Amendment





A common rule of interpretation of documents is that a person who drafted it used the same terms consistently. I have heard gun rights advocates claim that the term "militia" in the Second Amendment is the 1789 version of our modern armed forces. But look at the Fifth Amendment:
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia,...

Posted on 01/04/13 at 04:02 pm in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

The automotive industry has been subject to regulation for decades, Ever heard of the Consumer Products Safety Act? Plus, auto manufacturers have been the target of numberless tort/products liability lawsuits that have forced the industry to adopt the safety features we know today. These safety features have dramatically reduced auto related deaths at least resulting from safety defects. I'd call that accountability. The law does not entirely blame auto manufacturers for death and injury...

Posted on 01/05/13 at 12:29 am in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

"Auto makers are not blamed at all for issues of pure human negligence. They are sued when their products malfunction. So should it be for all manufacturers, including makers of guns."

The question is: when, and at what point, is a manufacturer or dealer liable or responsible for the misuse of the product? I say a jury ought to be allowed to answer that question. A gun manufacturer or dealer ought not to be able to "opt out" of facing claims for liability just because they did not...

Posted on 01/06/13 at 12:11 pm in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

Your point being?

Posted on 01/06/13 at 12:21 pm in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

Gun rights advocates know that guns are already regulated at federal and state level. They can argue that point either way: a) no point in further regulations because regulations don't work; or b) you can't improve the crappy, loophole ridden laws and regulations because that would infringe on my/our /"the people's" right to keep and bear arms and besides "people kill people, guns don't kill people", etc. etc. And round and round we go. At some point, one has to realize that some people...

Posted on 01/06/13 at 11:55 pm in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

You cite a single example of homicide by use of a vehicle where the auto manufacturer is not the defendant. And that's supposed to prove that the courts side with your point that the auto industry is "free of responsibility" for all deaths in which a vehicle is involved?

Posted on 01/07/13 at 11:38 pm in response to Regulating guns like cars: Perspective on the gun debate after Sandy Hook

Cars are for our society what I would call a "necessary evil." I would personally rather not own a car and I know of many who feel the same way. Cars are a necessity in our culture. So it's not quite right to simply say, "care-good, guns-bad." Both are bad I'd say but the difference is that, as a society, we've "socialized" the evil, but necessary costs of owning and operating an automobile through a system of laws and contracts to spread the costs of owning and operating motor vehicles...