I don't like the commenter's attempt to conflate firearms possession with this. "Litbrit", isn't, as the allegation that a felon can buy a gun from WalMart is patently false.

Radwaste: I eye rolled that comment as well.

That first pic was particularly horrifying. It is 330am, I can't sleep, and I'm on my cell. So I initially thought it was some prison based hidden camera moment before I expanded the pic for more details.

Adam Smith, the wealth of nations:
"It would have been impossible to proportion with tolerable exactness the tax upon a shop to the extent of the trade carried on in it, without such an inquisition as would have been altogether insupportable in a free country."

But after a few decades we get used to it, and we keep telling ourselves that we are free.

"two by two, with hands of blue..."

what will they trun us into?

Joseph Sobran:
( Click, then see the link at the upper right )

"Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves."

What every single citizen in the United States needs to realize is that every elected official works for them. They are there to serve us. We have our inherent rights.

From The Jeffersonian Perspective:

Certainly, it can be said that, Jefferson's main thrust was to establish liberty, not a form of government, democratic or otherwise. The individual was not to be subservient to the state, but rather the state subservient to the people.

"To inform the minds of the people, and to follow their will, is the chief duty of those placed at their head." --Thomas Jefferson to C. W. F. Dumas, 1787. Papers, 12:360.

Popular sovereignty gives individuals jurisdiction, so to speak, over the whole society.

The point being that we cede some rights to the government to allow the government to run. But when the government continues to take more of our rights -- they deserve a response from the citizens that tells them they have over stepped the bounds of their authority. That can be anything from a letter to your congress critters to an armed insurrection. But until you, at least, have told your congress critters of your displeasure please don't cry to the world.

Thanks, Amy. That was from February of 2011, over a year ago, just a few days before I left the Cogblog for good. I couldn't stand the Stalinesque forced conformity over there -- couldn't criticize Obama, couldn't talk about the National Security State. This, from an ostensibly liberal, ostensibly civil-liberties-loving group. Yeah, they loved civil liberties, until a Democrat got into the White House.

I couldn't take the hypocrisy, and got tired of being shouted down every time I brought up the TSA, DHS, etc.

(And for the record, litbrit owns and knows how to properly use a gun. I don't want to get into a whole argument about guns; I'm in favor of gun control, lots of people, especially here, aren't. But litbrit lives in Florida, and in many parts of Florida Walmarts sell guns. She was commenting on the ease with which this guy was able to buy one.)

I find it interesting that a person so active in defending the 4th Amendment has a problem with the 2nd.

Don't miss it: litbrit's comment was false.

And if you start with the presumption of guilt, how consistent can you be w/r/t personal liberty?

Radwaste, you're wrong. Utterly wrong.

That comment, which I wrote last year, was reflecting a horrific cop shooting that had taken place that very morning as I was driving my children to school--they had part of the highway blocked off, and several police helicopters were circling. It was not until I arrived home (after taking a detour to deliver the boys to school) that I was able to find out what the roadblock and scene had been about.

The man had a stockpile of weapons and ammo, and he was indeed a felon. He should never have been able to own any of them. (He died in the ensuing gun battle--in a neighborhood, as children were waiting for the school bus.) Now, I don't know if he perhaps had a friend purchase them for him, or how he came about them. And I don't know if they were purchased at WalMart--I admit to using that as shorthand for "any gun-dealing retailer" (and there are many in Florida)--but WalMart certainly did sell guns in this state.

Now, as to me not supporting the Second Amendment, how dare you! I fully support every single part of the Bill of Rights, including the Second Amendment. I simply do not believe it should be easier to purchase a firearm in Florida than it is to buy a car, and I do think that one should have a clean record with no history of crimes whatsoever and no history of serious mental disorder. As the law stands in Florida, right now, if one is convicted of partner abuse (to name just one violent crime), one need only satisfy one's obligation to the court and wait three years; at that point, not only may one purchase a handgun, one may apply for a concealed weapon (carry) permit!

I consider that madness. I consider that wrong. But it has nothing to do with law-abiding citizens' right to own firearms if they so choose. As Lisa mentioned, I own one, and my husband owns a few. Thankfully, I've only ever fired mine at targets, and my husband has only ever had to shoot an enormous rattlesnake that was closing in our our garden (we live in rural Florida). But I'm glad to have taken safety classes, and for inheriting my grandfather's marksmanship.

Hope that clears things up for you.

"I simply do not believe it should be easier to purchase a firearm in Florida than it is to buy a car, and I do think that one should have a clean record with no history of crimes whatsoever and no history of serious mental disorder."

Sorry I missed this so long ago.
I'm not the "wrong" one here.

litbrit's claim is STILL FALSE.