Archives for posts tagged ‘firearms’

Criminalizing self-defense and degrading rule of law

I complain often that bureaucrats have purposefully made complying with gun regulations so onerous because they want to discourage individuals from defending themselves at all. Sheep are easier to control than wolves and bureaucracies are all about control.

The recent ruling that I cannot take my gun into a “non-secure” area of the airport is unfortunate. I am now a criminal in waiting, according to the bureaucrats.

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Shoob refused to grant a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the city from enforcing the airport gun ban. Shoob ruled against gun-rights group GeorgiaCarry.org and state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica).

Bearden sponsored House Bill 89, which became law on July 1 and permits people with firearms licenses to carry guns in state parks, restaurants that serve alcohol and on mass transit.

But Shoob said allowing concealed weapons into non-secure areas of the world’s busiest airport will make the airport less safe and require it to substantially revise its security procedures.

I live 70 miles from the Atlanta airport. I carry a gun at all times, and I am licensed to carry the gun by state bureaucrats. I am a pistol expert, according to the U.S. Army. Yet bureaucrats do not want me to carry my gun if I pass through the airport. Apparently, I am supposed to find somewhere off the airport property to store my weapon if I need to pick up a passenger or drop one off. This is impractical, unrealistic and burdensome. It degrades my respect for the law, and makes me wonder what in the hell happened to common sense. When the law abiding are treated as if they are the enemy they eventually become the enemy.

I will continue to operate “under the radar” if possible. I am not going to stop carrying a gun with me at all times. I’d rather take my chances and fight any resulting charges in court. If some bureaucrat wants to remove a productive citizen from the tax rolls because of a stupid rule so be it. When the system becomes obtuse enough that it creates too many political prisoners it will collapse under the weight of its own unthinking idiocy.

What we do in the name of “public safety” is increasingly creating an atmosphere of distrust and resentment of the privilege of authority. It’s an us against them mentality fostered by egocentric and arrogant bureaucrats who think they own everything and know better than everyone. It’s dangerous, counterproductive and ultimately destructive to the fabric that holds our society together.

When will we finally be safe enough? When we are all chained together and naked as we shuffle through the airport with our heads down waiting to be tasered if we dare to question the authority of the men and women in their polyester suits with their shiny badges and their rule books thick and weighty? Go to hell you damn bureaucratic overlords of the kingdom of banal mediocrity. I don’t need you and I reject your demands that I become your myrimidon.

Heller ruling: firearms are an individul right

The most important decision the Supreme Court has made in my 37-years has been handed down.

I’d like to tell all the anti-gunners to suck it right about now, but that would be petty. Instead, I’ll just say that I hope Michael Bloomberg drops dead from shock.

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices’ first major pronouncement on gun rights in U.S. history.

The court’s 5-4 ruling struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with gun rights under the Second Amendment. The decision went further than even the Bush administration wanted, but probably leaves most firearms laws intact.

The Heller decision is significant, but the battle against the unreasoning fear and ignorance about firearms being purposely spread through our society is just part of a much larger war against self-reliant individuals that is far from over. Eternal vigilance is necessary. The freedom lovers and the doers and those who care not for the mediocrity of the state must continue to ignore the bad laws when necessary and to campaign against the purveyors of collectivist ignorance.

This is one tiny victory in a war that we’ve been losing badly for decades. I’ll be standing by for a full analysis, but the small victory today warms my heart. It’s been pretty cold, politically speaking, for people like me who believe that idiots and not guns are the problem.