Topic: Gun Control
Welcome to Jahfre Fire Eater's First Column This is my first article. I will answer a couple questions that readers may ask.by Jahfre Fire Eater
(Libertarian)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Hello and welcome you wonderful folks who are using your valuable time to self-educate. The self-educated will inherit what's left of the earth. The meek will be disinherited along the way. Don't tell them, they are having so much fun watching American Idol or dancing with the stars. I'd hate to ruin the best part of their day.
All my columns will be self serve. I offer the perspective and you can take it or leave it. If you take more than you can comfortably handle, take some Alka-Seltzer and stay away for a few days. I'm not interested in dealing with your indigestion. I'll be here when the churning has ceased. Come back then.
So, did you notice my Nolan Chart results? That is the first thing I'd like to address. Why am I a half-tick off straight up libertarian? Well, as in all polls, the answers are determined by the phrasing of the questions. For instance, if you compare my Nolan results with the results from The Political Compass, you'd see much more deviation from pure libertarian in my results. It is all irrelevant to me. I do not stick labels on myself and I sweat so much they tend to fall off quickly anyway when others try to stick one on me. The problem I have with labels is that they limit thinking. Once you accept a label you are obligated to defend its worst aspects. Who wants to deal with that at the start of every new discussion?
Back to my Nolan Chart. I answered as a conservative on the gun control question. I didn't want to, but there were only two marginally acceptable choices. Selecting the libertarian answer would have placed me in the pure libertarian camp and I don't belong there. That smacks of a label to me. I believe that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. However, I also believe in local control. So, while I would deny federal and state governments right to impose blanket restrictions, I believe local residents should have the freedom to decide for themselves on every issue.
For instance, if the city of Denver passed laws prohibiting the carrying of firearms or even the owning of firearms within the city, I'd take that as a restriction on where I might choose to live, not on my right to keep and bear arms. In fact, Denver does have some gun control laws and I don't live there so they don't infringe my rights at all. Gun owners who choose to live in Denver do so of their own free will, they could just as easily use that free will to move away.
However, if the folks in Denver started trying to make their laws the law of the state or the law of the country, that would be an infringement because it removes my ability to choose to exercise my constitutionally guaranteed right.
I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to revisit this issue so I'll stop here. Thanks for reading and I hope you come back real soon.
Yours in peace, prosperity and individual liberty,
Jahfre Fire Eater
Republican libertarian grass roots activist
Did you like this article? If you did, Thumb It! 5 thumbs so far
2007 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.
Published: Sunday, October 21, 2007
Last modified: Sunday, October 21, 2007
The views expressed in this
article are those of Jahfre Fire Eater only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jahfre Fire Eater is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Posted By: Mrs. Fire Eater
Date: 2007-10-21 14:23:49
As your wife, I'd be honored to be the first to deflect the obvious detraction - but what if I don't want to move away from the city and they say I can't own a gun?
This is where Ls and Rs start to deviate, and like you, honey, I'm square in the R camp. Being able to create the communities we want is as vital to freedom as creating our own individuality. At the town, county, and even state level, it is a million times easier to defend your liberty within the group. Without creating community rules, the whole idea of community is null. If you don't like it, then get thee to the community courthouse or justice center or wherever the discussion is taking place and defend your want for arms. It's WAY easier in town than in Washington.
So, I agree with you, dear, but you invited an all too common whine, and it is my favorite to deflect. I couldn't help myself.
Congratulations on your first column, even though it was really, really boring. (I can say this because I know the depth and complexity of your thought processes. Can't wait until you really come out of your shell.)
Welcome, though I'm a new-comer myself. I like your article, and agree with everything except the main argument. Giving citizens the right to choose is a good concept, but it's a slippery slope. Should we allow citizens to carry bombs? Or does the Second Amendment refer simply to the muskets of the day?
My main argument for gun control is that if guns are banned, we won't all need to own them. If criminals and school-shooters don't have guns, we wouldn't need to defend ourselves against guns.
Want to comment on this
article? Leave your comment here. Your email address is
required to track your comment. However, we will neither
publish your email address nor distribute it to other
organizations or persons. The only reason we might use
it would be if we needed to contact you regarding your
comment. All comments are subject to our
terms of use policy.
2007 Jahfre Fire Eater, all rights reserved.