Gun advocates frame firearms as technological extensions of speech rights

Evidence

In the opening remarks of her talk at Stanford University, Sandra Froman (2007) equated guns with freedom of speech and continued the metaphoric theme throughout her talk: “Now I’m sure you expected the President of the NRA to talk about guns, and I’ll get to that. But the fight over your right to keep and bear arms and the fight over your right to speak out and make a difference are all a part of the same fight to protect and preserve the freedom that we Americans have as our brithright.” People came to hear Froman address gun issues being debated nationally. Instead, they heard a diversional lecture devoted mainly to safeguarding the First Amendment. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1056 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Gun advocates justified the children’s-ad as constitutionally protected speech; Gun promoters justify semiautomatics by ignoring lethal differences; Gun industry advocates equate firearm advances with benign technological evolution — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1122 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The NRA equated guns with free speech to evade gun-policy debate #exemplifies (0.93) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1056