Liberty Vault

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 09 Nov 2002 13:00:00 GMT

From kaba:

Many people mistakenly see weapons as the source of crime rather than a reaction to it. This is rather like blaming your flat tire on the spare you carry in the trunk. -- Mickey Michels

and:

It is not the responsibility of the government or the legal system to protect a citizen from himself. -- Justice Casey Percell

and:

America needs fewer laws, not more prisons. -- James Bovard

From firingline:

"The unarmed man is not just defenseless - he is also contemptible." -- Machiavelli

and:

"Bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round...

From libertyvault:

"If taxation without consent is not robbery, then any band of robbers have only to declare themselves a government, and all their robberies are legalized." -- Lysander Spooner

and:

"There is perhaps no phenomenon which contains so much destructive feeling as moral indignation, which permits envy or hate to be acted out under the guise of virtue." -- Erich Fromm

and:

"What's *just* has been debated for centuries but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn *belongs* to you -- and why?" -- Walter Williams

and:

"The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the Prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this." -- Albert Einstein

and:

"It's not an endlessly expanding list of rights -- the "right" to education, the "right" to health care, the "right" to food and housing. That's not freedom, that's dependency. Those aren't rights, those are the rations of slavery -- hay and a barn for human cattle." -- Alexis de Tocquiville

and:

"If you protect a man from folly, you will soon have a nation of fools." -- William Penn

Liberty Vault contains "Libertarian Political Analysis and Internet Resources." They have a small selection of interesting e-books, a quotes page (many copied above), a glossary, and three categorized links pages.

I received yesterday The Concealed Handgun Manual by Chris Bird, 400 pages of self-defense stories and practical advice. [smith2004]

Bill Douthat at The Palm Beach Post - Gun-pointing at trial spurs outburst - a witness complained loudly when the questioning attorney pointed an evidence gun at him. As well he should. The lawyer should be arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. That it was unloaded makes no difference. [kaba]

Eric S. Raymond - An Anti-Idiotarian Manifesto - the final version is up now. Mr. Raymond requests web support via buttons, HTML provided. He also says it's up at petitiononline.com, but he didn't provide a precise link, and I couldn't find it there.

Kim du Toit - The Republican Agenda - some good advice for the new republican administration. Today's Gratuitous Gun Pic includes advice to a first time female gun buyer, the Taurus 650 revolver in 357 Magnum, or the Taurus Pt-138, which shoots the wimpy .380 ACP, but Kim says it does alright if loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs or Federal Hydra-Shok cartridges.

There are three, and only three issues that belong to the Republicans completely, and utterly:

Low taxes & smaller government (and yes, they are both the same issue)
Foreign policy and national defense (ditto)
Law and order
It's when the Republicans start getting involved with squishy social issues like Internet pornography and abortion that they start shooting themselves in the dick.

...

Let all the sunsetting gun laws die, and good riddance. None of them have been worth shit, they've prevented no crime, and the only result of NICS, the "assault rifle"- and "high-capacity magazine" bans has been a boatload of money wasted. Let the turkeys wither on the vine, if I may mix a metaphor or two. And don't even think of adding any new gun laws.

Chuck Baldwin - Republicans in Charge - Now What? - what the GOP will probably do.

In the name of "law and order" expect this government to increasingly usurp and destroy constitutional protections of personal freedom. Using the USA Patriot Act and the newly established Department of Homeland Security, federal police agencies are going to become an even greater leviathan probing ever deeper into our lives. Using terrorism like they use drugs, as an excuse to destroy our liberties, a Republican-led FBI, ATF, and HSF (Homeland Security Force) will more resemble Germany's SS.

Anthony C. LoBaido at Sierra Times - Republicans Fiddle while America Turns into Rome - a bit heavy on the anti-abortion Christian rhetoric, but makes some good points. [sierra]

Think the Republican "victory" in November of 2002 means the vanquishing of the liberal agenda and the globalism of the New World Order?

Think again.

Hillary must be laughing herself silly right now. The "Homeland Defense" apparatus she will push through the Senate in 2003 comprises the machinery she needs to fully conquer her pesky enemies when the time comes.

...

It's time to wake up. It's time to choose your targets in this war. Hillary and those who believe as she does are coming to power. Don't for one second let the lie of the Republican "victory" last week take your mind, heart, soul and spirit away from this truth.

There is NO victory without principles. Power itself means little in the grand scheme if wimpy Republicans wield it. On the other hand, the Hillary Clintons and the Democrats know how to use power to the fullest. We should admire their brutal steadfastness, singular vision and "dark honesty" in how they utilize that power.

Jon Dougherty at World Net Daily - Why gun control works - Satire. [kaba]

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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