The title is of course misleading, as is all the speech of authoritarianism. Is it to protect the possession of responsible body armor? But an inanimate object can be neither responsible nor irresponsible. Is it to protect responsible bodies with armor? If so, why does it limit said armor? Is it to protect the responsible possession of body armor? How then would body armor be possessed in an irresponsible manner? Are there hoards of people possessing their body armor in some obnoxious fashion, say, wearing orange body armor with red clothing? One is given to wonder.
With all the Progressives pretending to be concerned, to the point of hyperventilating, about all the carnage carried out with guns, you’d think the one thing they’d want to see, besides a monopoly on gun possession for criminals, is more people wearing more effective body armor. Oh wait…
Authoritarians are of course insane, so in that sense there is nothing to see here.
One has to wonder what the authoritarian Republicans will do with this. My gut tells me they’ll be very much in favor of it, but will at the same time feel uncomfortable about letting their support be known. How that will manifest itself in their political actions I cannot guess. This sort of thing is an on-going problem for them (damn those liberty-minded little Hobbits!).
Please try to avoid getting caught up in the matter of the technical details of the various classes of body armor. This has nothing to do with any of that you know.
If the truth be known (perish the thought) this is one of many signs indicating that Congress is preparing for war with the American people. Many of them are no doubt blissfully unaware of that prospect, but it must be understood that blissful unawareness, and the vehement defense thereof, is a key component of such campaigns, right up to, and through, the the very end.
It makes perfect sense from the fascist point of view. The goal is for the people to be defenseless. So the first and biggest step is to disarm them. But just in case that isn’t quite good enough to make them utterly helpless, for good measure the next step is to outlaw armor, too.
What does the NRA say about this?
If it isn’t clear when the government insists they want you disarmed that they desire to do something to you which you might resist it should make it unmistakably clear when they don’t want you to be able to even passively resist their bullets.
I left out another possible interpretation of the title. I’ve written about this before, so I should have though of it right away. “Possession” may refer to the usurpation and occupation of certain types of body armor by evil spirits (see the bottom paragraph). But in that case they’d want such “possession” to be “responsible”, and whatever that could mean is anyone’s guess. If we assume that they’re insane, and completely, utterly disconnected from reality, then anything goes. If on the other hand we assume that they have some limited grasp on reality, or on cause and effect, and that they have some actual purpose or intent that makes any kind of sense at all, then it’s war they have in mind, and not a war with any foreign government or other foreign entity.
Or consider this, perhaps, if you know how to lead a pig?
Maybe at some level, US Govt. knows something about a future need for a REAL, self financed,widely distributed militia and are stimulating all interested citizens to properly equip and supply themselves via reverse psychology. Like, for instance- If our economy is going to crater and they won’t be able to PAY the regular army soon… And want to develop some light infantry level defense capability positioned nation wide? But not at a level that could RESIST federals in a local insurrection. No crew served weapons, no secure commo, MANPADS or anti armor capability allowed.
I have seen how the US Government behaves when they REALLY don’t want you to have something (like the afore mentioned secure communications/effective encryption, modern machine guns, man portable air defense and light anti armor weapons) What I have seen happen in regards to small arms, ammo and body armor for a while now looks quite different-
Very interesting hypothesis. Thank you.
That is a plausible way of looking at it, if you assume a pretty good measure of intelligence among upper level political operatives. I have my doubts. For one thing it isn’t the way the authoritarian mind works. For another, if they wanted a well trained and equipped citizenry there are more open and honest ways of achieving that, but it is fascinating none the less.
More likely it stems from a general, visceral desire among all authoritarians for chaos, making cracks and weaknesses in the system which they might exploit. It’s the mind of the schoolyard bully. Poke and prod, poke and prod, provoke and assess the responses. If they can get a few militia here or there to go ballistic, they’ll see it as an opportunity.
I don’t believe that any part of this current administration has any real concern for the future of this country, other than the fact that they see America as the problem, and are making excuses for our enemies.
If all that America hating and enemy promoting is nothing but a great big ruse being carried out by solid, principled pro-Americans for the purpose of getting individual citizens to arm up and train up, well, they certainly have me fooled.
I like the way you think though.
Lyle, you must try to remember-
Almost no one considers THEMSELVES to be evil. Regardless of what they are doing, most people can think something along the lines of “It’s only business”, “just to get through this one situation”, “Everyone else is doing ******”, “We need to do this abhorrent thing, but it’s vital to PROTECT THE CHILDREN/THE CONSTITUTION/THE GLORIOUS PEOPLE’S REVOLUTION”.
If you don’t understand that virtually all the people whose actions you are opposed to think they are doing what is right and more or less justified, you have no conception of how to alter their intentions- Or of how far they will go, and with clear consciences to boot.
That is all true of course.
I don’t think that’s quite true. A lot of them are doing stuff not because of a perverted belief it is “right” but rather simply because “I want to”, and notions of right, or lawful, or constitutional, simply aren’t viewed as worthy of concern when compared to “I want to”.
For example: “There’s nothing in the constitution that says the Federal government has got anything to do with most of the stuff that we do.” — James Clyburn (House Whip, D-SC). Or “Are you serious? Are you serious?” (Nancy Pelosi, D-CA).
Maybe it is simply that you perceive the way of the world; Trials and tribulations, injustices and challenges of all kinds, can bring out either the best in us or the worst. They can make us face things that we’d never have to face otherwise, thus allowing us to discover that of which we’re made, see if we are what we think we are, and expose our allegiances.
That almost makes the pitiable servants of the enemy out to be your friends, doesn’t it?
Eh. Always understand your enemy. It may make it possible for him to become your friend.
Or to deal most efficiently it that is not possible.
Of all the unenforcable laws this is probably near the top. Are people gonna need a license to buy alloy steel lest they take it to the band saw and turn out something that will fit in a plate carrier? I mean really, some of the more effective, albeit heavy, body armor is the plain old steel impact plate….
Just as unenforceable as the laws against suppressors. Easy to make, but 10 years in Federal prison stops most people.
I’m wondering where they stand on the ballistic-nylon backpacks and clipboards that were marketed after the Columbine shootings, to “keep kids safe”…
Licensing, registration, proof of need, and additional taxes to cover the regulatory expenses.
In other words, only the “right” people are allowed to have them. (i.e., the wealthy and people with political connections. Nothing for you, pleb.)
There’s always http://thehomegunsmith.com/pdf/Poor_Mans_Bullet_Proof_Vest.pdf
It occurs to me that Kevlar cloth is readily available from composites fabricator’s supply houses.
There’s plenty of Kevlar cloth for sale on eBay, though, of course, if you plan on betting your life on it meeting the stated spec, caveat emptor and all that.