Fun with guns . . . . . and rationality

Salon writes about a discussion on gun rights, gun deaths and a few other mostly gun-related things. The participants were radical right Republican state Sen. Nathan Dahm of Oklahoma and comedian Jon Stewart. 

State Sen. Nathan Dahm (R-OK) has penned several bills loosening gun restrictions, including the nation’s first anti-red flag law. He thinks these bills protect the Second Amendment – and that they make us safer. We think it's probably one or the other. Watch it on @AppleTVPlus. pic.twitter.com/T7fLFLjTQ5

— The Problem With Jon Stewart (@TheProblem) March 3, 2023

Salon transcribed some of the 8:27 discussion:

"You don't want anything that could help law enforcement or society determine whether or not a person is a good guy with a gun or a bad guy with a gun," Stewart said.

"The registry would allow you to have much more effective background checks," Stewart continued. "I don't understand why you won't just admit that you are making it harder for police to manage the streets by allowing all of these guns to go out without permits, without checks, and without background stuff? Why can't you just stand by that?"

"Because that's not what I'm doing," Dahm responded. "I'm defending the individual's right to keep and bear arms."

Stewart countered by noting that Americans have to register in order to have voting rights.

"So you have to register for a right. Is that an infringement?" Stewart asked the lawmaker.

"Does the right to vote say 'shall not be infringed?'" Dahm responded.

"Oh, so this is just a semantic argument?" Stewart retorted, to which Dahm quickly said "no, it's not."

"What is the leading cause of death among children in this country?" Stewart asked Dahm during the discussion.

"And I'm going to give you a hint," he said, "it's not drag show readings to children."

"Correct, yes," Dahm responded.

"So what is it?" Stewart asked again.

"I'm presuming you're going to say it's firearms," Dahm said.

"No, I'm not going to say it like it's an opinion," Stewart said with indignation. "That's what it is. It's firearms. More than cancer, more than car accidents, and what you're telling me is you don't mind infringing free speech to protect children from this amorphous thing that you think of, but when it comes to children that have died, you don't give a flying f**k to stop that because that shall not be infringed."

"That is hypocrisy at its highest order," Stewart concluded.

So, is Dahm a hypocrite as Stewart alleges? Does it matter that guns kill more children than cancer or drag show readings? Which of the two sound more reality-based and rational, Dahm or Stewart? Which is more pro-democracy, e.g., it's OK to infringe voting rights via registration but not gun rights?