The American Civil Liberties Union is famous for defending free speech rights for everyone, even the most vile and objectionable speakers. This has often landed them in court cases with some questionable characters. As part of the fallout from Charlottesville, however, they are changing their plans for who to defend.
The ACLU will no longer defend free speech done while armed. The new policy creates an interesting tension between their mission to defend civil liberties and the rights of people to keep and bear arms. If you are bearing those arms while demonstrating/protesting, the ACLU will no longer defend your right to speech. Get the full story from Newsweek here.
What do you think? Should 2nd Amendment rights be suborned to 1st Amendment rights? Does the presence of a firearm change the nature of free speech in the public square?
