Shooting themselves in the foot

The stupidity of the pro-gun lobby in America is clearly shown by their call for British journalist Piers Morgan to be deported because he attacked the appropriately named Larry Pratt, director of Gun Owners of America, on CNN.  Their petition calls for Morgan to be kicked out of the country on the grounds that by calling for gun control, he is attacking the US Constitution, the Second Amendment of which guarantees the right to bear arms (though contrary to a recent wrong-headed decision by the Supreme Court, explicitly in the context of a "well-regulated militia").

If these people are so keen on protecting the Constitution, perhaps they should read the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech.  They might also note that these are Amendments, not part of the original Constitution - the Constitution provides for its own amendment.  In other words, it implicitly allows people to attack it so they can call for it to be changed.  Furthermore, Morgan is saying little more than what most sensible Americans, from President Obama downwards, are saying, albeit in less temperate language.   I suppose if you're going to shoot the messenger, a foreign messenger makes an easier target.