Real Crime vs. Legislated Garbage

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 27 Dec 2004 13:00:00 GMT

"There is no truth to the rumor that George Bush plans to blame the Sumatra Quake on Al Qaeda." -- whatreallyhappened.com

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# Kim du Toit - New Shooter Update - a hearty welcome to the Nation of Rifleman to Savannah Clayton Davis, age 10, who received a Marlin 981T .22 rifle for Christmas, after displaying excellent marksmanship and responsibility with her air rifle. [kimdutoit]

# I posted another comment in Sierra's "Today" post at Fish or Man, in response to a cop who stated that he is not your enemy unless you try to hurt him.

And I'm not your enemy, unless YOU choose so by trying to hurt ME. Attempting to arrest me for behavior that is not criminal is an attack, initiated by you. I have the right and duty to defend myself, with extreme prejudice.

And why should those hundred submit to arrest and go through the courts? Arresting someone for lawful activity is kidnapping. The arresting cops are the ones who should go through the courts. Kidnapping is a capital offense...

I happen to believe that the so-called "laws" forbidding drug sale or possession by adults have no authority to be. I do not recognize the authority of the legislatures to criminalize everything they please, no matter how large the majority. Gun ownership and possession is obvious, since that right is specifically stated in the U.S. Constitution. Drug use is not specifically stated, but our Republican system gives the government enumerated powers. They may not legally pass any "laws" about anything for which the federal or state constitution does not explicitly grant them authority. That makes federal drug "laws" all illegal. I haven't studied it, but I'd wager that very few states have the authority to criminalize drug possession.

Given that I believe these "laws" are illegal, I also believe that arresting an adult for possessing drugs or selling them to another adult is also kidnapping, still a capital offense.

I actually go further than this. I don't recognize the authority of the various constitutions over people who have not explicitly sworn to follow them. That means they apply only to sworn public servants, not to me or to any natural citizen. So the legislatures have no authority to criminalize ANYTHING, though I still believe the common law definition of crime, behavior that directly harms another person or their property, still holds.

But I would be happy to settle for the various constitutions, if they were narrowly interpreted and rabidly enforced, meaning that 90% of the current U.S. Congress, and likely a similar percentage of every state legislature, should be rotting in jail, assuming they aren't hanged for treason.

and:

Real crimes: assault, murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery, all the common law crimes recognized by everybody. Intentional behavior that harms another person or their property.

Non-crimes: ingesting anything, gambling, prostitution, any interaction of consenting adults. Vice. Accident. Non-payment of taxes. Refusal to register.

(I'm not talking about tort law here, only criminal law).

These are NOT subjective. Real crimes cause direct physical harm. Non-crimes hurt somebody's feelings or cause some unspecified harm to "society".

The big difference is that after a REAL crime, there's either a dead body or a victim screaming for justice. After a legislated crime, somebody's moral sense is harmed, or some legislator's flow of plunder (tax or fee) is threatened.

The big difference from your perspective is that if you find a dead body or somebody calls you complaining about real harm done to them or their property, then I will have no problem with you seeking the perpetrator (except that your job is funded with stolen, aka tax, money). If you walk down the street looking for law-breakers, especially if you do what drug warriors and BATF troops do, entrap people into breaking one of those illegal "laws", then you're a criminal, not a peace officer. If I am your target, though it is usually not practical for me to defend myself, since cops are well armed, well trained, and travel in gangs, it is my absolute right to do so.

Constitutions are supposed to establish a tiny domain in which law-making is allowed. Anything outside of that domain is off-limits, no matter how many people want it. They no longer work that way. It turns out that one tyrant 3000 miles away is preferable to 3000 tyrants one mile away.

But these kind of discussions never go anywhere. I have yet to meet a cop who realized that 90% of what he does blatantly violates his oath. People who realize that stop being cops.

It helps to realize that taxation is theft, and that initiation of force is crime, no matter how many people vote for it, and no matter which fancy uniform, funny hat, or shiny badge the perp is wearing.

And I never said I thought the Constitution was valid. Only that I would be willing to give you that, if the penalty for government agents were severe for stepping even a millimeter outside of that Constitutional cage.

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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