NEW YORK -- Should a blind person be allowed to carry a gun? Yes, according to one commentator for the National Rifle Association (NRA), who appeared in a video posted on Monday arguing that individual freedom afforded by the US constitution trumps any restriction a state could place on a visually impaired person carrying a firearm.
The chap in question is Dom Raso, a former soldier who calmly argues that as blind people are more vulnerable to crime, they should of course be allowed to pack some heat.
“Every law-abiding, blind individual should be able to have whatever guns they want. And if you disagree with that statement or you haven’t thought it all the way through, you don’t take your rights seriously enough,” he said.
But what about the fact that blind people… can’t see? Here’s Raso’s riposte: “The biggest concern I hear is having blind people carrying in public. Are you envisioning a person waving a gun around or pointing it at somebody for no reason? Because that’s what it sounds like”.
In the US, the debate over gun safety regularly surfaces (every time there’s a major shooting incident), but the NRA’s powerful lobby in Washington has stymied successive movements to push through even the most modest of gun law reforms.
In April, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed into law a bill that allows guns to be carried legally in bars, nightclubs and some government buildings, as well as unsecured areas within airports.