Founder of liberal news site says right to own firearms is 'made up'

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Media top headlines July 14

Fauci getting criticized for saying 'no doubt' children 3 years and older should wear masks, a CNN anchor dismissing critical race theory as a creation of Republicans, and a Texas State Democrat getting mocked for calling himself a 'fugitive' after fleeing the state to block voting bills round out today's top media headlines

Josh Marshall, founder of the liberal news site Talking Points Memo, claimed on Tuesday the right to own guns is "made up" by pro-Second Amendment activists.

"Just to remind everyone, the individual right to own and use firearms is completely made up and the product of NRA funded activism," Marshall wrote.

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Stephen Gutowski, founder of the firearms news site The Reload, wrote an extended Twitter thread on what he referred to as an "incredibly lazy" statement. 

"The text of the amendment is very plain. ‘the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed’ The amount of gaslighting people on the left use in regards to the Second Amendment is amazing," Gutowski said. "Keep doesn't mean own. The people means the states."

"This all strikes me as incredibly lazy more than anything else. It's intended to get claps from those who already uncritically agree with you. It's certainly not going to persuade anyone else," Gutowski continued. "As with the other plainly worded amendments in the Bill of Rights, determining how they apply in a myriad of different circumstances is necessary. But this shortcut of just saying the words don't mean what they plainly mean and are really devoid of all value is dumb."

Others on Twitter mocked Marshall for his "made-up history and frequently citing the Second Amendment in response. 

Former NRA spokeswoman and conservative commentator Dana Loesch quoted the amendment writing, "’A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.’"’

"These people think if they say something enough they can magically erase the historical record," National Review writer David Harsanyi said.

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"Saying ‘keep’ isn't synonymous with ‘own’ is a real argument that people really make. It's completely absurd but they don't like gun owners so they just don't care how ridiculous their arguments sound as long as it gets to the right outcome," Gutowski concluded.