“We don’t believe those rights should be subjected to majority vote.”

Conservatives are testing new tactics to keep abortion off the ballot following a series of high-profile defeats.

In Arizona, Florida, Nevada and other states, several anti-abortion groups are buying TV and digital ads, knocking on doors and holding events to persuade people against signing petitions to put the issue before voters in November.

Republicans are also appealing to state courts to keep referendums off the ballot, while GOP lawmakers in states including Missouri and Oklahoma are pushing to raise the threshold for an amendment to pass or to make it to the ballot in the first place.

The emerging strategy aims to prevent abortion rights groups from notching their third, and largest, set of ballot measure victories since Roe v. Wade was overturned. And while conservatives celebrated the fall of Roe for returning the question of abortion rights to the people, these efforts are seen as an implicit admission that anti-abortion groups don’t believe they can win at the ballot box — even in red states — and that the best way to keep restrictions on the procedure is to keep voters from weighing in directly.

  • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    As someone who served (for school, not the cause), I disagree.

    If these fascists get their way and start coming for “undesirables,” better a poor shot than no shot at all. Training dramatically increases the chance of hitting someone, but again, better to have a chance than none at all.

    And you can learn the basics in a couple outings. Guns are not a steep learning curve, especially if you focus on a single model. They’re so easy to learn, a willfully illiterate Alabamian can do it. The bar for a successful IKEA assembly is far higher.

    Gun people, by that I mean gun fetishizers, just like to play pretend it’s highly technical to be a basic user. Like 90s dads with camcorders.

    They’re a dangerous tool largely designed to be user friendly, nothing more.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Focusing on a single weapon is great, and a great point! LOL, I’m all over the place.

      But the number of women I’ve dated that have a 9, uh, somewhere, uh, just in case… Having said that, the women I’ve taught are always far better than the guys.

      You got a point in that something is better than nothing. Mostly. I just don’t want people carrying around guns when they haven’t made the commitment to training, safety and the law. Good way to get themselves, and others, in worse trouble.

      From what people say on nextdoor.com, it’s astonishing what my neighbors think makes for a justified shooting.

      And yes, I fully expect the fascists to come for many of us. We’ve had it easy and peaceful in America, pretty much forever. I’ve outlined a scenario many times where my conservative neighbors come to disarm me, “for my own good”.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Having said that, the women I’ve taught are always far better than the guys.

        I suspect that’s the same reason all the women I’ve worked with in software development have been really good at their jobs: the ones who wouldn’t have been aren’t there at all in the first place.

          • DoomsdaySprocket@lemmy.ca
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            11 months ago

            Trades ringing in, that’s my theory, too.

            I won’t commit to saying I can do something professionally unless I’m damned fucking sure I can, because any small failures will become glued in everyone’s memories, kind of like me being around at all tends to stand out. It’s exhausting.

      • AllonzeeLV@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Good points, and yeah ego gets in the way with a lot of CoD obsessed dudes.

        I’d rather we didn’t live in gun dystopia, but the fascist gun nutters are ironically the reason why everyone else kind of needs one.

        So with that said. Better to buy one commitment or no, with the only proviso being a trigger lock and keeping the key in a secured place. Then it’s an insurance policy if there’s violence in the streets. With any luck, You can easily fumble through looking through a keyhole or smart doorbell at a fascist banging on your door demanding to take/end you, bringing the gun downstairs quietly, aiming straight at the door, and clumsily shooting through.

        Again, better that chance than just accepting violent death.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          To that last point, it freaks me out how many people intend to lie down and die rather than fight back.

          “You gonna fight tanks and planes, LOL!”

          No. I’m going to defend my family and my home. If that means my death, that was in the cards anyway. Rather die with my boots on than starve on a train.

        • AnalogyAddict@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Not for everyone.

          My ex bought a gun the moment his record was expunged and made sure to pass that knowledge to me through my kids. I thought about getting one, but I’d been living with fear of violent death for years. A gun wouldn’t change that. If you store it properly, in only a very narrow set of circumstances would it even be helpful.

          Owning a gun is an illusion of safety. I don’t do illusions. If I were to own a gun, it wouldn’t be under the false pretense of protecting myself.