Our government… teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.
Louis D. Brandeis
[Brandeis could have been talking about me. I’m a great believer in playing by the rules of your enemy. If the government declares me, via ignoring the law, their enemy then I figure I can play by the same (lack of) rules.–Joe]
An individual would need intimate knowledge of firearms and microstamping, plus the appropriate tools, in order to render the technology ineffective. These tools are certainly not “household items,” nor would the common street criminal be expected to have the knowledge necessary to defeat the technology.
[…]
One can also imagine the scene at a shooting range as criminals or gang members wander around and gather spent cartridge cases in bags. Conspicuous? One would certainly think so, and Americans should expect the owners of such ranges to engage in more responsible business practices.
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence & the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence
Microstamping Technology: Precise and Proven
[Another example of the anti-gun bigots being clueless about the real world. Apparently they haven’t heard of a Dremel tool or picking up your brass for reloading.–Joe]
As someone who had received death threats and been called a “dictator” because of other government issues, I knew that there were a lot of people who I did not want to see carrying guns into city meetings and the offices of city employees.
These incidents all highlight the tensions involved when individuals argue that their “personal liberty” outweighs the rule of law and trumps community policy as decided by our governmental systems.
Paul Helmke
“Suicide Shooters” – Going To “War” With Government
7:36 pm on February 8, 2008
[“Personal liberty” is trumped by community policy? Translating to more recognizable terms:
No wonder they have comments turned off on their blog.
H/T to Sebastian.–Joe]
The only way that I can put into context that you might understand is that my brother went to war tonight with the people, the government that was putting torment and strife into his life. He has spoke on it as best he could in the courts, and they denied all rights to the access of protection and he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue.
Gerald Thornton
Six Dead In Missouri City Council Shooting
[Also of interest is this from the NYT:
In an interview with a local television station, Mr. Thornton’s mother said that Kirkwood officials had kept after her son, “giving him tickets for everything they could.”
I’m not sure of the source and validity but one commenter said the shooter had $18,000 in parking tickets in the previous three years. My previous post may be applicable here.–Joe]
Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor.
James Russell Lowell
[Which is why we were supposed to have a Republic with a constitution which enumerated limited powers to the government and with guaranteed rights to the people. Unfortunately people found out they could ignore the constitution without consequences and we now have something much closer to a democracy with all the adverse effects.–Joe]
The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.
Karl Marx
[Just because Marx happened to be right about this year’s election doesn’t mean he had even a glimmer of a solution to the problem. Super Tuesday wasn’t.–Joe]
Certainly Petitioners would not dispute Americans’ justification for revolting against Great Britain, an event that would not have been possible without the private ownership of firearms. And should our Nation someday suffer tyranny again, preservation of the right to keep and bear arms would enhance the people’s ability to act as militia in the manner practiced by the Framers.
Alan Gura
Robert A. Levy
Clark M. Neily III
February 4, 2008
RESPONDENT’S BRIEF
On Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit
[I just completed reading the entire thing. Lots of good stuff in it. At times I have been concerned Heller’s case would be made too narrow. That is no longer a concern. If anything this brief may be too broad because it will scare the white people. Not that I think that view is out of line with the original intent and the requirement for a free state, just that scaring the white people has it’s risks.
In this case the good guys played it as if this one is for all the marbles–which it is. Good luck to us all.–Joe]
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
Winston Churchill
[Applicable today because of the discussion over at Munchkin Wrangler. Via Tam.–Joe]
Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.
Lily Tomlin
[Politics can be pretty depressing at times.–Joe]
Most Yahoo employees will feel that, A., we lost, and B., there is no way in hell that I am going to work for Microsoft.
Former Yahoo employee who wishes to remain anonymous
Microsoft and Yahoo!: Happily Ever After?
[After they get their Borg implants and take a couple swigs of Microsoft Brainwash they’ll be fine.–Joe]
I am not an Economist. I am an honest man!
Paul McCracken
[More stuff on economists as I continue listening to The Big Three in Economics by Mark Skousen. Did you know that Marx bragged about “making a killing” in the stock market? Or that Adam Smith, a big proponents of zero tariffs, worked most of his life as a customs official collecting tariffs?–Joe]
If Karl, instead of writing a lot about capital, had made a lot of it … it would have been much better.
Karl Marx’s mother
[I’ve been listening to The Big Three in Economics by Mark Skousen. Fascinating stuff about Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Hegel, and several others. Then there are the unsolved problems of economics. If I were younger I might consider trying to solve some of them. It’s all very interesting stuff. And of course the huge impact these various theories had on the entire world. Marx is responsible for more deaths and suffering than any other human who as ever lived. Adam Smith played a huge part in the industrial revolution.–Joe]
Fans are clearly split as to whether a handgun can ever be tolerated on a superhero long regarded as a symbol of untainted righteousness.
Tom Leonard
Gun-toting Captain America comes back to life
January 29, 2008
[H/T to Uncle and Greg and Beth. So, it’s not possible to be righteous and possess a handgun? I guess all U.S. police officers are automatically bad guys then. Substitute “black man” for “handgun” and “as” for “on” then provide an estimate on how long would this guy have a job. What a bigot. These type of people should be shamed into oblivion.–Joe]
Every friend of freedom must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence.
Milton Friedman
[Friedman was referring to casual drug users but in regards to firearms things are even worse. There are people, such as Chris Matthews, who want an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on ZERO evidence (H/T to Jeff and Uncle). And of course we already have that for our airplanes. What baffles me is that millions of people put up with it every day with only minor whining.–Joe]
I believe the Supreme Court’s review should not be limited to the construction of the Second Amendment. The court also should consider whether its enunciated constitutional right of privacy extends to an individual’s right to possess a handgun in his home.
[…]
The Supreme Court has held that the zone of privacy applies only to “fundamental” personal rights. Also, the privacy of one’s home has been particularly important to the court: thus, in Payton v. New York the court described the zone of privacy as unambiguously applying to an individual’s home.
Therefore, the Supreme Court should consider not only whether an individual’s right to possess a handgun in his home is expressly protected by the Second Amendment; but, in addition, whether the possession of a handgun within one’s home is a fundamental right protected under the court’s recognition of a zone of privacy.
Don Kornreich
The Second Amendment, gun control and the right of privacy
Originally published January 27, 2008
[Excellent point.–Joe]
Thank you for saving my life, and to the rest of you thank you for fighting for this man’s right to protect me and my child. Tell him for me that I will no longer be part of the group who invades his home, and tries to tell him how to store his guns. Tell him I will never be part of any group who tries to make it impossible for him to buy his tool he used to save me. And tell him I will never again tell him how to raise his children properly, because obviously I was oblivious to the fact that responsible people such as him know how to raise their children better than I do.
Anonymous
Forgive me, for I have sinned.–An About Face After Being Saved by a Gun Owner
Via Uncle
[This is one of those stories that is almost too good to be true and I’m suspicious. I could email the person that supplied the story, Brian Clifford, but I haven’t. If someone finds out it is a fabrication please let me know.
Update: More suspicion of fakery.–Joe]
A perceptual consciousness is unable to believe that ideas can be of personal importance to anyone; it regards ideas as matter of arbitrary choice, as means to some immediate ends. On this view, a man does not seek to be elected to a public office in order to carry out certain policies–he advocates certain policies in order to be elected.
Ayn Rand
Philosophy: Who Needs It, page 49
[I don’t need to point out the application of this quote in the current space-time context.–Joe]
When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.
Ben Franklin
[And behold! There came upon the country the Democrats. Then the Republicans became tempted and they too became as like Democrats. And there was much wailing and sorrow for the righteous knew the end was near.–Joe]
A few years ago this would have seemed like a scene from behind the Iron Curtain or some futuristic George Orwell movie, but in our post-9/11 world it was just a Tuesday at the Reno airport. As silly and un-American as it all sounds, I do it because I want to do my part to help the good folks at Homeland Security keep our country safe; that and because they will pull me aside for a cavity search if I don’t.
Rick Seley
January 19, 2008, 12:05 AM
What’s up with our Homeland Security?
[Think about it. What would you have thought had someone told you that in order to use common, public accessable, transportation you would have to take off your coat, hat, shoes, and submit to being patted down by a government official before you proceed? And that there would be lines of hundreds of people ready to submit to this at every boarding station? It is a scene from behind the Iron Curtain or a Orwellian movie and we have meekly granted them permission to do it.–Joe]
This is a really bad idea. It would run counter to our tradition and the principles on which we operate our community.
John Roush
Centre College President
Campus gun bill is likely to die–Various officials oppose proposal
January 22, 2008
[Roush was referring to a bill that would allow people to bring guns onto college campuses — and use them if they were threatened. Yes, I suppose it would run counter to their principles. I suspect those principles are those espoused by Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Bunch, who in the same article said, “The colleges and universities are the ones who should be making the decision on how to keep people safe.” I wonder what those principles are exactly.
One of the following I suspect:
Regardless of the principles Roush and Helmke subscribe to they are at extreme odds to the principles I subscribe to and are guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment.–Joe]