Now comes the flood of freedom-limiting legislation. Some of it is well-meaning, but misguided. Some of it is disingenuous, crafted to silence the voice of opposition; look for an inevitable resurgence in advocacy for “The Fairness Doctrine”.
Here are the opening salvoes:
- Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) announced plans to introduce gun control legislation, Monday, in an interview with Politico, on Sunday.
- Representative Robert Brady (D-Pennsylvania) will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.
We already have more gun laws than one can follow. Assassinations have been taking place before the beginning of recorded history, certainly before the advent of the gun. Governments should neither have a monopoly on deadly force nor sole access to the weapon of the day. Anyone willing to break the law in one regard (i.e., murder) will not be thwarted by respect for the law in another regard (i.e., gun control).
And who’s to decide what satisfies the condition of being “perceived” in Robert Brady’s forthcoming bill? We already have laws which limit one’s right to incite violence. Specifically, Brandenburg v. Ohio deals with this subject quite well.
We must not create laws that attack the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens under the pretext of thwarting the actions of non-law-abiding citizens, i.e., criminals. If criminals respected law they would not have acted criminally in the first place.
This fight cannot be won through legislation. Bad things happen to good people – this is a dangerous world. The actions of a mentally unstable and immoral man are not sufficient reason to legislatively dismantle our constitutional and fundamental rights.
The pen is, truly, mightier than the sword. It is incumbent upon our representatives to use it responsibly. If they do not, it is incumbent upon us to vote them out. Take notes…
MoralNorth
