tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495065931245897039.post7847646831640458457..comments2024-02-27T15:47:47.923-05:00Comments on Principled Perspectives: Is There a Right to Carry a Gun in Public?principled perspectiveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06502754865268315342noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495065931245897039.post-72121530694056573962013-09-22T11:21:18.298-04:002013-09-22T11:21:18.298-04:00On the one hand, the registering of guns could aid...On the one hand, the registering of guns could aid law enforcement. On the other hand, does the government have any business knowing what type or how many guns one has, so long as those guns are legally permitted? I lean toward no registering of guns, at least for guns obtained for self-defense on one's own property.<br /><br />Driving is an interesting subject. The government certainly has a role, in my view, since a car is an instrument of deadly force that can victimize innocents. I'm not sure of the best way to codify government's role in law, as it relates to it rights-protecting function. But here's the thing. Traffic laws, licensing, and vehicle registration and identification tags handled by government have been around for a long time, as you say. Do they in and of themselves interfere in an individual's rights to life, liberty, property, or pursuit of happiness? I don't see how they have or can, so long as they are objective and easily attainable, as they generally have been. Of course, licensing and vehicle registration could probably be handled by private organizations.<br /><br />One thing I do believe: Any nut case should not he legally allowed to use public roads—government or private—just as the mentally ill or people with a violent criminal history should not be allowed to own guns. I think Second Amendment champions are making a big mistake in rejecting any role for government. They are conceding the entire "gun control" debate to anti-gun zealots, helping them to look reasonable.principled perspectiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06502754865268315342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5495065931245897039.post-69363785761313879392013-09-21T20:04:02.659-04:002013-09-21T20:04:02.659-04:00It might be good to email the contents of this pos...It might be good to email the contents of this posting to the leadership of the NRA. You mention licensing gun owners. What about registering guns? Couldn't that be done as cheap and easy as licensing? Would it be useful, meaning, a legitimate aid to the government in its proper function? Maybe the NRA needs instruction on these things. That might make it more effective, and more secure and permanent in its effect, especially in the proper philosophical context.<br /><br />As an aside, I ask, does the idea of government's proper role in guns, their ownership and use, apply to motor vehicles, too? Despite it's exercise of such role for nearly 90 years, now, I'm not sure. Motor vehicles (and roads) don't involve government's proper function in the ways guns do. There must be safety, from unskilled driving, on the roads, but that's not a government function. Crime control on the roads, as everywhere, is, but does that legitimize government licensing of drivers and registering of vehicles?Mike Kevittnoreply@blogger.com