Howdy Folks!
I'd like to go back to what James B. was saying, and consider.... once that door is opened, where does it stop?
Is it now the rubicon for dinner?
"Hey... that guy is wearing a Ron Paul campaign button. I refuse to be subjected to that sort of thing. Ask him to remove it."
"That guy over there is wearing red. That's the gang colors of the bloods! Get him out of here, would'ja?"
"That group of people are speaking in a language other than English! Ask them to leave, because I think they might be terrorists!"
Such examples may seem absurd, but if you've kept up with news from the airline industry, such things have happened there!
"I'm sure those guys are Moslems. Get them off the plane!"
Not making any sort of disparaging remark here, but giving an example of something that actually happened aboard a couple of planes before takeoff.
We talk a great deal about the 2nd Amendment, as we ought. But then again, what use is the 2nd Amendment? Why does it exist? Many say it is to protect the 1st Amendment:
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" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
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The right of free speech permits the complaining individual to speak their mind. Beyond that, there is no Constitutional provision against being offended! But along with the right of free speech comes freedom of expression. Artwork is considered free speech, ergo mostly protected. Folks in our society wear tee shirts with 'obscene' words of images, and that is also protected as free speech. If it were not so, they'd get arrested for wearing them in public. Freedom of speech and expression are manifest when Neo-Nazis have their parades or public gatherings. They have that right, regardless how offensive it may be to most of us. And that right is enshrined in the 1st Amendment. The really ugly demonstrations held by Westboro Baptist Church, espcially at funerals of slain soldiers returning from theatres of war, rankle most of us beyond outrage. Yet, their freedom of speech is also protected. They carry signs with the most disgusting slogans, and it is protected. But so are the folks who turn out with guns on their hips to stand between them and grieving loved ones. And the folks from Westboro? They proclaim their freedom of free speech and free expression while demanding something be done about those open carriers who block their hateful message. This is known, in polite parlance, as hypocrisy!
But it is preferable to the alternatives:
When only cops have guns, it's called a "police state". -- Robert A. Heinlein
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action, according to our will, within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others."
-- Thomas Jefferson
(i.e., our right to open carry is not abdicated by another's right to bitch about it!)
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good" -- George Washington
"The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed." -- Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers at 184-188
No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it. -- 16 Am. Jur. Sec. 177 late 2d, Sec 256
(i.e., We obey the laws before us, and our right to open carry is defined by Constitution. It ought not be constrained by someone who 'feels' offended by our exercise of liberty!)
"Taking my gun away because I might shoot someone is like cutting my tongue out because I might yell `Fire!' in a crowded theater." -- Peter Venetoklis
"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom." -- John F. Kennedy
The point I am trying to arrive at, perhaps circuitously, is a simple one.
As Kennedy said, we open carry because it is our right! It is an expression of our freedom, that we proclaim when we engage our daily life exercising that very freedom. Those who find offense, may exercise their freedom to denounce it. But they have no right to exercise their opinion, or force it, upon another. Should we permit our freedom to be infringed by the petty tirant, whether a public servant or private individual, we yield our liberty to our own shame. We ought not bestow the blessings of our commerce on such private petty tirants, but exercise our right to denounce such unAmerican behavior and take our business elsewhere. We ought never surrender our right, not for anybody! Once we commence down that road, the path forward is perilous, and liberty wanes.
That's my humble opinion.
Shun 'em, and let them know why!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
