Quote of the day–Arkansas Supreme Court

If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege.


Arkansas Supreme Court
1878
[Somewhere along the way people believed the state had the authority to prevent crime. This should be a hot button for freedom loving people. Even the classic restriction on the 1st Amendment, “You can’t falsely shout fire in a crowded theater” is a punishment for doing something wrong. The Washington D.C. gun law mindset equivalent would be to have your jaw wired shut with duct over your mouth when you go into a theater.–Joe]

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One thought on “Quote of the day–Arkansas Supreme Court

  1. The fact that “You can’t falsely shout fire in a crowded theater” does not represent a restriction on free speech. It’s a restriction against malicious fraud. It has no bearing on the stating of opinions, beliefs, or facts, or on the manner or scope of dissemination.

    Likewise, a law against shooting innocent people is not a restriction on your right to keep and bear arms. It’s a restriction against shooting innocent people. It has no bearing on the manufacture, trade, storage, type, quantity, power, capacity, or carrying of arms.

    Hence, use of the “shouting fire in a crowded theater” argument to show that “rights have reasonable restrictions” is in itself a fraud.

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