We constantly encourage people in CA, MA, NY, NJ to move to freer states, so I have a philosophical question:
If you live in those states and you pay money to get a license to get permission to merely own your property that you've paid for, are you supporting tyranny in doing so? I'm beginning to think that accepting a license to exercise a right confirms and empowers tyranny. Of course, everyone from those states would say "then we wouldn't be able to own any firearms." To that I say, isn't that an admission that your rights are gone and it's time to move if you truly value those rights? I've heard them respond by saying "we're hanging in for the long fight to keep things from getting worse". I doubt that Americans nowadays want to take stands on principle anymore, so they try to find ways of accepting things that are inherently evil. This has many euphemisms such as "compromising" or "working with the opposition."
Bottom line: is paying for a firearms license essentially the same as sending a check to the brady campaign/vpc/iansa? In a philosophical sense, and as far as bare bones reality, I believe the answer is yes. If no one bought the insulting licenses, the justifiable anger in the public would remain, instead of being relieved by being able to take your gun home after you've gone through the "process."
I freely admit that my position here is rather unreasonable, but I think the founders were unreasonable when it came to handing over liberty. I think those who took our liberties in those states were unreasonable. I think being reasonable is how our rights were whittled away in CA, MA, NJ, NY.
If you live in those states and you pay money to get a license to get permission to merely own your property that you've paid for, are you supporting tyranny in doing so? I'm beginning to think that accepting a license to exercise a right confirms and empowers tyranny. Of course, everyone from those states would say "then we wouldn't be able to own any firearms." To that I say, isn't that an admission that your rights are gone and it's time to move if you truly value those rights? I've heard them respond by saying "we're hanging in for the long fight to keep things from getting worse". I doubt that Americans nowadays want to take stands on principle anymore, so they try to find ways of accepting things that are inherently evil. This has many euphemisms such as "compromising" or "working with the opposition."
Bottom line: is paying for a firearms license essentially the same as sending a check to the brady campaign/vpc/iansa? In a philosophical sense, and as far as bare bones reality, I believe the answer is yes. If no one bought the insulting licenses, the justifiable anger in the public would remain, instead of being relieved by being able to take your gun home after you've gone through the "process."
I freely admit that my position here is rather unreasonable, but I think the founders were unreasonable when it came to handing over liberty. I think those who took our liberties in those states were unreasonable. I think being reasonable is how our rights were whittled away in CA, MA, NJ, NY.
