Posts here have been in short supply as I have been living life and trying to get a campaign off the ground. But "11 questions to see if Libertarians are hypocrites" by R. J. Eskrow, picked up at Salon , was just so freaking lame that I spent half an hour answering them. In the end (but I'll leave it to your judgment), it is not that Libertarians or Libertarian theory looks hypocritical, but that the best that can be said for Mr. Eskrow is that he doesn't have the faintest clue what he's talking about. That's ok, because even ill-informed attacks by people like this make an important point: Libertarian ideas (as opposed to Conservative ideas, which are completely different) are making a comeback as the dynamic counterpoint to "politics as usual," and so every hack you can imagine must be dragged out to refute them. Ergo: Mr. Eskrow's 11 questions, with answers: 1. Are unions, political parties, elections, and ...
Comments
(Oh, never mind the woosh sound. It's the black helicopter overhead.)
What legitimate purpose would mandatory registration serve that justifies such a flagrant intrusion on our right to privacy?
guns are rarely left behind & recovered by police at crime scenes except in the following exceptional circumstances: they have been used in a shooting and are either untraceable, or were intentionally left by the criminal (or planted by a crooked cop) to implicate a 3rd party; or the person possessing the gun is dead or in custody. so the argument that registration will help trace guns used in crimes back to the criminals doesn't hold much water.
and unlike drivers, persons carrying and using guns are not forced to display a license plate that can be read from orbit, so any argument that registration will help police use information obtained from witnesses to trace guns back to criminals is equally specious.
So, exactly what "compelling state interest" do you fans of registration want to use as a pretext to justify violating the rights of gun owners?
Other than aiding with confiscation, exactly what legitimate purpose does registration serve?
According to data and research from essay tool many people have the erroneous belief that if someone wants to commit suicide he/she will find a way. Nothing could be further from the truth. Persons contemplating suicide are usually victims of brain diseases like bipolar disorder or severe depression. In moments of maximum weakness they seek the most certain way to end their unbearable pain. Guns provide the most certain means of committing suicide. Most other methods are haphazardly effective and often leave the person worse off in their brain and the other parts of their body and not dead. Truly, a worst of all possible outcomes. I believe the number one focus of gun control should be to break the link between guns and suicide. I offer no magic solution, only a suggestion about priorities for gun regulation.