EDITION: Ashe County
FAQs PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS
48 °
Fair
Registered Users, Log In Here
A second amendment question

OldCityManager

Posted 10:50 pm, 08/23/2015

Scott - what freedoms do you think you had that have been eroded by the Federal government of the United States?

Prior to the Treaty of Paris, you were a subject of the British Crown. Between then and the Articles of Confederation, you were only a citizen of your State, if in fact you may not have been a citizen of that State. When the Constitution was adopted, Congress adopted a fix to grant United States Citizenship to people in the States, who did not have citizenship through the States.

What rights did you have from 1789 to 1881 that the Federal Government took? The only rights I can think of is the right to own a human being, own your wife and kids, and squat on land owned by the Federal Government.

A result of the Civil War was the defacto end of the primacy of the individual States through the 14th Amendment applying equal protection. This gave you some rights in other States that you may not have possessed. If you were a slave, you obtain the right to be a free person during the same period. If you were a corporation, you received the right to be treated as a person. That's an expansion of rights.

After the Civil War, industrialization led to urbanizing areas and the rural agrarian solutions to problems no longer worked. Cities began to adopt Health Laws, Zoning, Sanitation Laws, etc., etc. The Feds followed behind the urban areas taking away you right to child labor and as the Feds began to build things, they took away your right to abuse what they built.

As the cost of being an economic free rider became higher and higher, the Feds began to regulate Safety, Work Laws, Schooling, Integration, etc., etc. Your right to drive without a seat belt is not greater than my right not to have to pay for your medical bills.

The public wanted old people to be taken care of in old age. The public wanted safe highways. The public wanted clean water and air. The government did not shove Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, etc., down your throat. The public asked for these things through their votes. Most of these things were beyond the capacity of the State to deliver or properly regulate.

Because you live in a rural area, you need less regulations and rules to survive in a reasonable manner. Once you are in an urban or suburban area, you need more rules in order to protect the rights of others, to protect property values, and to keep order. You can not retreat to your 40 acre farm in NYC, or Charlotte, or even Hickory, and escape the wider world.

Even on your farm, you probably want electricity, internet, the occasional sheriff ride by, access to a hospital, and other things that need Federal money to exist here in an area that really does not have enough resources to fund these things.

As far as I can tell, this what the Federal Government has taken from you over the last century:

1. They made you pay an income tax

2. They made your employer do withholding

3. They made you register with selective service

4. They have not allowed you to possess a tank, atomic bomb, or other weapon of war

5. The have regulated you internet to fight child p**nography

6. The have made alcohol illegal, then legal again, and made the funny weed illegal

7. They made you have a State drivers license

8. They have made a lot of you get a pesticide license

9. They made you participate in a commodity price support program that paid you not to plant

10. They have prevented you from easily buying drugs made overseas

11. They prevented your mom's access to Thalynamide

12. They may have harassed you over unpaid taxes

13. They may have harassed you over polluting a river or ground water

14. They may have made you buy a hunting license and observe a limit

I could go on, but my point is that for the most part, the Federal Government regulates only after a problem arises and after the States fail to solve the problem. Most of the regulation is indeed geared to the urban/suburban population, but that's about 80% of the US population.

What legal right did you have in the 18th Century in the Colonies, that you do not have today that is a right that would not create problems within an urban/suburban setting?

Personally, I don't want child labor, I don't want slavery, I don't want segregation, I don't want young kids driving cars, I want clean water, I want clean air, I don't want BREMCO to change my rates any time it strikes them, I don't want child marriage, I don't want old folks dying hungry an in poverty, I don't want all the Bears and Turkeys hunted to extinction. In return for my wants I have to pay taxes. What right do I need that I don't have?

What right do you think you have lost, that the Federal government took from you rather than a right you might have lost to an urbanizing society?

whywhy

Posted 6:58 pm, 08/23/2015

Big Bad Government eroding the freedoms of slaves, women, children, handicapped, elderly...

Basking

Posted 2:49 pm, 08/23/2015

What do you use for a source?

jrscott295

Posted 11:29 pm, 08/22/2015

Because we the people have allowed the government to erode our freedoms. They take them one at a time, slowly over time. It's not just with weapons though, it's with everything. A large government feels the need to expand law as a means to validate its existence. You can't continue to pass laws without infringing on rights. 90% of what the Federal Government does today is really unconstitutional if you interpreted the Constitution as it was through the 19th and even into the early 20th century.

The per capital murder rate during the Wild Wild West was much lower than today. This despite the fact that most people openly or concealed carry on the frontier. (pretty much everywhere but the upper northeast).

Basking

Posted 10:08 pm, 08/22/2015

JR, that should be the case, but somehow it's obviously been interpreted to not be so

pointman

Posted 4:32 pm, 08/22/2015

I never have understood the rationale behind being able to carry a concealed firearm, but not a knife or other lethal weapon.

I can carry a pistol, but not a switchblade knife......

jrscott295

Posted 1:52 am, 08/22/2015

The 2nd Amendment applies to any arms. Be that guns, bows, swords, maces, tanks, jets, etc. The Founding Fathers believed that the populace should be better armed than the army to ensure their freedom.

Joseph T.

Posted 6:55 pm, 08/21/2015

Both

Basking

Posted 6:53 pm, 08/21/2015

Tasers or stun guns? And on a related note, we both know that knives and swords for some reason are considered different since concealed carry permits only apply to firearms.

I would say a taser should fall under the same protection as firearms, and stun guns would fit in line with blades. But I expect the big lawyers to have a more complex idea.

Joseph T.

Posted 6:43 pm, 08/21/2015

Does the 2nd amendment apply to stun guns? This is a question that the US Supreme Court is being ask to answer however there is no word yet if they will take the case.

http://arstechnica.com/tech...stun-guns/

I would say yes how do you feel about it.

Waggles Pet Supply
Wash'em, Feed'em and Spoil'em all in one COOL place! We specialize in Dog & Cat food, treats, toys & accessories. (336) 903-4906
Advertise Here for only $1!
If you're seeing this ad, then so will your customers! Click here to create and manage your own ads, for only $1 a day!
KFC/Taco Bell
Now hiring all locations