Opinion
“What is ‘Freedom of Expression?’ Without the ‘freedom to offend,’ it ceases to exist.” ~ Salman Rushdie
Both Bowie knives and stilettos (the term “stiletto” has never enjoyed a universally-accepted definition) were subject to legislative bans in the 1800s, particularly in places like New Orleans, where hand-wringing politicians at the time babbled incessantly about “knife violence.”
Of course, such naive “bans” mainly were unenforceable and thus unenforced (or, more often, “selectively enforced,” always upon political opponents), much as they are today.
NY’s “Sullivan Law,” bullied through the legislature by Big Tim Sullivan and his fellow Irish gangsters in 1911 (all notoriously corrupt Tammany Hall Democrats), was designed specifically to prevent newly-arriving Italian, Polish, and Jewish immigrants (whom Sullivan feared/despised) from acquiring guns.
Similar (and for the same reasons) efforts in the 1970s to ban “Saturday-night specials” were proposed by the same paranoid autocrats. And once again, the term “Saturday night special” was never given a precise definition by design.
However, one trait of the “Saturday-night specials” that was universally agreed upon was that they were “cheap.”
Poor citizens, who couldn’t afford expensive pistols, but who still needed some form of legitimate personal protection, provided an active market for inexpensive handguns. They still do, but leftist politicians (who are anything but poor) are ever made nervous by this degree of personal freedom.
Today, “assault weapon” is the left’s latest bogeyman and catchphrase. Not surprisingly, we never hear from their lips any species of precise definition, again by design!
How leftists simultaneously fear and detest strong, independent, armed citizens, especially when such citizens aren’t members of the “in-crowd” of the era!
That is to say: We’re the wrong ethnicity; we attend the wrong church; we’re not dependent on their handouts; we believe in individual freedom and liberty and maintain various other “extremist” notions.
“What good does it do to ban ‘some’ guns?” ~ Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio Democrat (died in 2008)
About John Farnam & Defense Training International, Inc
As a defensive weapons and tactics instructor, John Farnam will urge you, based on your beliefs, to make up your mind about what you would do when faced with an imminent lethal threat. You should, of course, also decide what preparations you should make in advance, if any. Defense Training International wants to ensure that its students fully understand the physical, legal, psychological, and societal consequences of their actions or in-actions.
It is our duty to make you aware of certain unpleasant physical realities intrinsic to Planet Earth. Mr. Farnam is happy to be your counselor and advisor. Visit: www.defense-training.com
