You live in fear. This is the goal of terrorism.

I show my concealed-carry permit to a cashier asking for a photo id to confirm my credit card.  She panics.  She assumes because I have the weapons permit, I must be armed.  I’m now labeled a terrorist.  I’m questioned by the authorities, as are my friends.  I’m unable to fly because I’m on the TSA watch list.  Every purchase is scrutinized.  My travels outside the US are suddenly suspicious, regardless of the data trail.  Why did I purchase diesel fuel in Canada?  Didn’t I buy fertilizer in the US once?  Am I making a bomb?  What are these pictures on my camera?

The definition of terrorism from Merriam-Webster:

“Main Entry:

ter·ror·ism

Pronunciation:

\ˈter-ər-ˌi-zəm\

Function:

noun

Date:

1795

: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion”

Imagine if I had a name typically found in the Middle East, like Ramak Fazel. All of his problems were caused by one busy-body on an airplane.

Report your neighbors, random acquaintances.  Fuck up life for all of those bullies in school by reporting them as well.  Live in fear.  Obey your government.  After all, they know best.

When the pandemic comes, prepare your guns.

Will the Bush administration lock you up in a pandemic?  I have a paper somewhere about the 1918 Flu pandemic and what the successful towns (where success is measured in least deaths) did in response to the pandemic.  I recall it didn’t involve martial law.  You either have to shoot all the sick, and potential sick, or let modern medicine take care of them the best they can to contain the infestation.

Happy Birthday Paul Revere!

Paul Revere.  We all know the name from his now famous April midnight ride through the Massachusetts countryside as the British landed in Boston.  His silversmith skills are his other legacy.  I think that today he’d be labeled a terrorist, put before a mock trial, and slandered in the media as the American Taleban.

Looking at America

This is a great summary of the state of the USA.  One thing they left out at the end.  Rather than waiting for voters to change the regime, we may start shooting.  Many in the military feel the same way.

The once mighty, fall.

The US is now amongst China, Russia, and the UK in regards to privacy protections and surveillance.  Six Hours A Week posts about the Privacy International report for 2007.  As a gun owner, I’ve already lost mine to many national ID databases, biometric databases, and who knows what else.  Unfortunately, you have too.

Accuracy with a Gun

“In this NYT article, we are told that “the most likely result when a policeman discharges a gun is that he or she will miss the target completely.”  That’s a shocker for those of us conditioned by Hollywood movies to think anyone who picks up a gun for the first time hits the villain right on the temple. “  An analysis can be found at Junk Charts.

Second Guessing in CT

I was reading an article by one person who’s apparently changed their mind on the 2nd amendment.  Glad to see some people think for themselves.

Domestic Violence & Protection

I volunteer for a battered womens shelter.  These women come in scared, and generally leave empowered.  During their transformation, they invariably want two things; self-defense lessons and a handgun.  They all say they can be overpowered by their partners; the gun is the equalizer.  I’ve heard over and over again, “I had a restraining order against him, but it didn’t stop him.”  Of course not, it’s a piece of paper reliant on a timely response from an overworked police force.  The self-defense lessons and handgun will even the odds, and possibly hold the partner until the police do wind up arriving.

It’s not that these women want to kill.  They want to protect themselves and their kids.  They feel far safer knowing I have a concealed permit, although very, very few every ask if I’m actually carrying.  They don’t want pepper spray, they don’t want to continue to have the crap beat out of them waiting for the police, they want a hand gun.  In MA, they seriously consider if they want to get one legally or not.  Legally, means their records are public and given the invasive requirements for a concealed carry license, someone always knows exactly where they are living.  Abusive partners will find this info and use it to their advantage.  Some have gone ‘downtown’ and picked up a few handguns from the street corner.  Some have been concealed carry holders for over 20 years without a license.  The risks of going to jail are less than exposing themselves to the public records for their abusers to find.

It’s also funny that the local NRA membership grows from these shelters.  These women starting over with nothing, somehow find the money to become an NRA member.  It crosses all walks of life.

Optional Search Warrants in my own backyard

“Boston police are launching a program that will call upon parents in high-crime neighborhoods to allow detectives into their homes, without a warrant, to search for guns in their children’s bedrooms.The program, which is already raising questions about civil liberties, is based on the premise that parents are so fearful of gun violence and the possibility that their own teenagers will be caught up in it that they will turn to police for help, even in their own households.”

I don’t even know where to begin.  Initial thoughts are summed by “those that would trade liberty for security deserve neither”; in the words of Benjamin Franklin.   Full story at boston.com.

“Papers, please” is so passe

November 12, 2007 Bleed for Public Safety Earlier this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that police in the Dairy State may forcibly take roadside blood samples from suspected drunk drivers. And of course, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled more than 15 years ago that the police can set up sobriety checkpoints to stop random drivers to see if they’re driving while intoxicated, even if they’ve otherwise done nothing wrong.

Now put those two rulings together, and you get the what-the-hell-country-are-we-living-in, but very real, possibility you may soon be driving on a public road, doing nothing out of the ordinary and breaking no laws, then be stopped, questioned, and if the police officer doesn’t like your answers, be forced to give him some of your blood. Ponder that for a sec.

Ponder that in many states, you’ve no right to ask that a physician or trained medical professional draw the blood, either. The cops get to jab you.

Ponder also how we’ve gotten to the point where many of people will read this, shrug, and feel it’s no big deal that we’re now required give some of our blood to agents of the government upon command.

It gets worse. Late last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that not only can police require that you give up your blood, if you refuse they may use “extreme force” to extract it. In this case, the officers inflicted permanent physical damage on the suspect. There’s also a case pending in Arizona where a forced blood draw done by a cop resulted in a persistent infection in the suspect’s arm.

Give MADD its due credit. They’ve managed to shred the Bill of Rights almost single-handedly, with little more than a brilliant, two-decade public relations campaign. Even the drug warriors have to be envious.
Posted by Radley Balko on November 12, 2007  from The Agitator.