It is a right to bear arms.. Not a privilege that you "retain" only "if" you follow all the rules all the time, or one that you should lose AFTER you have paid your penance to society by spending time in jail.
I do not believe that carrying a weapon is a trait that people should have to get a permit for, because they have to hide the weapon somehow, based on the ever-growing laundry list of legislation that has very much infringed on our right to bear arms.
A well regulated militia means the GOVERNMENT, and in regulating that, THE PEOPLE, which the 2nd amendment states very clearly, have the right to bear arms.
"Due process" does not include state or federal legislation that would make gun ownership, especially open carry, illegal or criminal.
Concealed carry is a different issue. At least with open carry, people know in advance that you are packing heat. To be allowed to carry a concealed weapon, and therefore be "sneaky".. that I agree- should continue to be a permitting designation.
To be clear- I am against parole. I think parole is a good program, but if we are going to release people for good behavior, work achieved, and other noble deeds, proving that the convicted prisoner is rehabilitated, then why even mess around with a parole system? Let them out and set them free. Its not fair to a parolee that they cannot have a gun.
It is also not fair that someone who has been served an order for protection of an accuser, should also suddenly lose their rights to carry a deadly weapon.. and people who are released and awaiting trial, also..
What happened to "innocent until proven guilty in a court of law"??
And as for the people who are mentally ill.. For God's sake, don't the sick ones have guardians? And the ones who aren't too sick to go to school, work, etc.. well guess what? If they want to go around killing everyone in sight in a fit of psychosis, they WILL find a way. Outlawing guns results in only the outlaws having guns.
I do not care so much about the "unsafe" aspect of it. I realize this will result in more shootings and very likely a lot more accidental homicides..
But it will also DRASTICALLY reduce the amount of overall violent crime, as well as theft that occurs in this country on a daily basis..
Who's going to even CONSIDER fucking with you, if you have a .45 pistol strapped to your side.
Cops suck. I say BUY A GUN.
“When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson
In 1764, Marquis Cesare Beccaria published On Crimes and Punishments, the founding document of modern criminal science. In it he wrote:”The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity, the most important of the code, will respect the less important and arbitrary ones, which can be violated with ease and impunity, and which, if strictly obeyed, would put an end to personal liberty —so dear to men, so dear to the enlightened legislator— and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were familiar with Beccaria’s work.
Now, as far as who the 'militia' is...
George Mason, Father of the Bill of Rights:"I ask, Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers." (Jonathan Elliot, The Debates of the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, [NY: Burt Franklin,1888] p.425-6)
The Constitution gave Congress the power to raise and support a national army, and to organize “the Militia.” This is because an army didn’t naturally exist, while “the Militia” only had to be organized: it always existed. (See enumerated powers in Article 1,Section 8.)
The Supreme Court, in US v. Miller, (1939) “…militia system…implied the general obligation of all adult male inhabitants to possess arms, and, with certain exceptions, to cooperate in the work of defence.” It concluded that the militia was primarily civilians.
Today, federal law defines “the militia of the United States” to include all able-bodied males from 17 to 45 andmembers of the National Guard up to age 64, but excluding those who have no intention of becoming citizens, and active military personnel. (US Code Title 10, sect. 311-313)
