Snake Farm Insurance

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 31 May 2002 12:00:00 GMT

Bill St. Clair at the Albany (NY) Times Union - Pilots should be allowed to defend themselves - The TU printed the letter I wrote last Friday, inventing their own title as usual:

First published: Friday, May 31, 2002

Before airplanes were declared helpless-victim zones by government, there weren't any hijackings. And no one was felt up by airport "security" drones, either. If government would get out of the way and let people defend themselves, there would once again be no hijackings. Arming pilots is a good start toward restoring our right to defend our lives, everywhere, always, with extreme prejudice when necessary, but it's only a start. Hopefully, Congress will mandate it this time around.

And don't talk to me about stray bullets damaging the aircraft equipment. The government plans to shoot down future hijacked planes with heat-seeking missiles fired from jet fighters, killing all aboard. Much better to kill the hijackers on the spot, don't you think?

BILL ST. CLAIR

Melvin J. Marion at the Berkshire Eagle - Gun foes take aim at Bill of Rights - a pretty good description of U.S. v Miller and why the Bill of Rights guarantees individual rights. I disagree with Mr. Marion about the need for an instant check system, but other than that, he did good.

I submit that it is not Attorney General John Ashcroft who is attacking our Constitution, it is those who wish to repeal the Second Amendment to our Constitution by means other than those delineated for changes to our Constitution. We law-abiding supporters of the entire Bill of Rights are among the most patriotic people in this country. Most of us support instant background checks to keep guns from felons and minors. We are not just "any Tom, Dick or Harry who wanders into a gun shop." Existing federal laws, if enforced, will do the job we all want done. The recently passed restrictive gun laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts are restrictive only to us law-abiding citizens; the felons continue to do exactly as they please!

Libertarian Party Press Releases - Has Uncle Sam lured your teenager into experimenting with drugs? - not only have the o.n.d.c.p.'s television ads done nothing to reduce drug use by kids, they may have encouraged some kids to try drugs who wouldn't have without the ads. Time to get rid of this government money waster.

Larry Pratt at Gunowners of America - State Farm And Prudential Don't Like Guns - State Farm has given their agents discretion to refuse to insure gun owners. Some of them are cancelling policies when they discover that the policy holder owns guns they don't like (e.g. a Mossberg 500 shotgun).

Harry Browne at World Net Daily - National defense vs. national offense - Mr. Browne thinks the U.S. government should spend our stolen tax money on a defense system, not on playing world policeman.

The government should simply post a reward -- say, $25 billion -- to be given to the first private company that produces an actual functioning, fool-proof missile defense. Not a prototype, not a plan, not a cost-plus contract -- but a demonstration of the actual system bringing down missiles. If such an offer were made, we'd probably have a missile defense within five years.

...

If you want to be the world's policeman, telling everyone else how to run their lives, expect to be hated -- and even attacked.

Add comment Edit post Add post

Previous Posts:
Twisted Internet
Guns Against Terror Day
No-Draw Magaw
Let's Roll!
Forend Grip Works Good
The Ballad of Carl Drega
The Freedom Pledge
Bill of Rights - Security Edition
BANG!
Photography Free Zones

Navigation

History

Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair