End the War on Freedom

Will Kesler at The Aspen Daily News - Wakeup! Revolt! Join the Not Willful Party - Mr. Kesler claims that U.S. income tax law only applies to people who "willfully" disobey. He then uses the definition of "willfull" to deduce that a reasoned belief that the tax is voluntary protects him from imprisonment. I wish him luck. [market]

Thornwell Simons at KeepAndBearArms.com - The Mystic Nuclear Weapons Exception - why people have a right to self defense, and hence to tools of self defense, namely personal weapons, even though they do NOT have a right to own nuclear weapons. As expected, the libertarian non-agression principle and simple deduction answer all the questions. He didn't explain it quite as concisely as I've read elsewhere: You own your body. Hence you have the right to self defense. Weapons are necessary for self defense. Hence, you have the right to own weapons and use them for self defense. You may use these weapons against anyone who initiates force against you. Aiming a weapon at someone without cause constitutes initiation of force. A nuclear weapon is "aimed" at everyone within its kill and fallout radius. Hence, owning an armed nuclear weapon constitutes initiation of force unless you own all the property within its kill and fallout radius. [market]

All that makes sense as a general rule; but it doesn't satisfy the "mystic nuclear weapons exception," it doesn't give us a general principle to determine which weapons and instruments people can have and which they can't -- it doesn't really define what a "means of self defense" is. But it does give us a starting point. Since the right to own weapons stems out of the right to self-defense, then people must only have the "right" to own weapons that are an efficient means of self-defense. Ideally, we'd be looking for something that could only work against "bad guys," but that will probably be always beyond our science; for now, we have to leave that job up to the human brain. This means a few things: most importantly, it means that the weapon in question must be capable of use with discretion, that is, it must be possible to use the weapon only against aggressors. If the weapon has any nasty side effects -- like inevitably killing innocent bystanders, killing the user, killing at random, killing people who happen to be in the same general area fifty years later (and are hence inevitably also innocent bystanders,) or some such similar flaw, then it can't be considered a "just" weapon, because its use would inevitably violate the non-aggression principle outlined above. For an individual armament to be an "efficient" means of self-defense, then, it has to be controllable by an individual; the individual user must have the capability to specify targets. Therefore we have our rule: people have the right to own whatever weapons they can obtain and use, provided that those weapons are of the sort which can be used without aggressing against innocents.

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The Bill of Rights, amazingly enough, still works. Let's get back to it.

Harry Browne at WorldNetDaily - Less government equals less crime - Four ways to increase public safety: Stop Disarming Innocent Citizens, Get the Federal Government out of Law Enforcement, Repeal All Asset Forfeiture Laws, Stop Prosecuting Victimless Crimes.

K. L. A. Alford at GOA - Refuse to Be A Victim Again - a letter from a former police officer about her decision to carry, always. More at GOA's Women's Voice page. [geneice]

Sarah Thompson at GOA - An Open Letter to American Jews - thoughts on the shooting at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles. Preventing future occurrences requires armed parents, not gun control laws. [geneice]

If Amanda were my child, she'd hear the following: "Honey, there are some very bad people in the world. Some of these people hate people like us who are Jewish. They don't know what a special, wonderful, little girl you are. They don't understand that G-d loves you, and that we love you. We never thought that such a bad person would try to hurt you and your friends. But he did, and so grownups have to do some things to help you to stay safe.

"We love you, and we're not ever going to let anyone hurt you. So to make sure you're safe, Mommy's going to stay at school with you today. So is Lisa's mommy. You know that we keep guns at home so no bad guys can come in the house and hurt us. Well, Mommy's going to take that gun to school, and Lisa's mommy will take her gun to school. In fact, there will be mommies and daddies with guns at the school every day. And we're going to teach the teachers about guns too, so they can protect you against bad guys. And when the bad guys find out, they'll be too scared to come to your school.

Someday, when you're a big girl, we'll teach you how to use a gun too. But for now, you need to remember that you can't touch a gun unless Mommy or Daddy says it's okay. Do you remember your gun safety rules?..."

Lyn Bates at GOA - Lessons In Reality: Bitches With Guns - I've linked to this one before, but it's worth reading again. How an Arizona woman saved herself from a likely death by having her revolver with her. No shots were fired. [geneice]

Maryann fights not just for the right to have a gun, but for the right to carry it concealed, because that is safer. "The reason my weapon was effective that day was that it was concealed in the folds of my dress. If this guy had seen it as I went into the bathroom, he could have jumped me from behind as I came out, or he could have pulled a weapon out of his vehicle or wherever he had one hidden. One of the only reasons I survived is that he didn't know I had a gun!"

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In the months following the incident at the rest stop, in a reaction that nearly every assault survivor will recognize, Maryann replayed the scene in her mind "a thousand times." She kept looking for the man, too, knowing he was still out there somewhere. Now, after more then a year, "It still haunts me a little but not nearly like it used to. I am still very hesitant to stop at a rest area."

There is no hesitation, though, if you ask her why she survived that afternoon. She says very matter-of-factly, "He decided his rope couldn't compete with my Ruger."

Annie at GOA - Hope To See You Soon: Gun Control Activism from a Crook's Perspective - a fictional letter from a crook to a Million Mom's member. [geneice]

The other day, I was in bad need of a fix. I needed some crack money somethin' terrible. So I went down the street to the grocery store, parked in a shady part of the lot and started looking for an easy mark. It ain't easy to find someone you know won't fight back and hurt you. More and more folks are beginning to carry guns and sometimes you just can't tell who has 'em and who don't. But, I got lucky. After about an hour of watching folks, you pulled into the lot. When you pulled your car into the parking space, that Million Mom March bumper sticker practically jumped out at me. I watched you as you unbuckled your kids, locked up your car and walked into the store. Man, I really liked the sight of that bumper sticker. It was like getting a Christmas present when it ain't even Christmas.

DeAnna Putnam at The Daily News Tribune - Bryants lose court battle: Social Service now guardian of Waltham children in homeschooling case - A Waltham, Massachusetts couple has lost legal custody of their children, though apparently not physical custody, because they refused to submit a home-schooling lesson plan to the local school board. [unknown]

Mark Charalambous at Massachusetts News - Debtor's Prison is Alive and Well: More Should Go to Jail in Protest - In the People's Republic of Taxachusetts, non-custodial fathers can be required to pay up to 40% of their gross pay in "child support". If they refuse to pony up, they can be imprisoned by a judge. No jury need apply.

Joel on Software - Getting Things Done When You're Only a Grunt - things that one lowly programmer can do to improve his company's software development process: Just Do It, Harness the Power of Viral Marketing, Create a Pocket of Excellence, Neutralize The Bozos, Get Away From Interruptions, Become Invaluable.

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